Philip Hansen Anselmo (born June 30, 1968) is an American musician best known as the lead singer for groove metal band Pantera, southern metal/sludge metal supergroup Down, and hardcore band Superjoint, amongst other musical projects. He is the owner of Housecore Records.
Anselmo is regarded as one of the most iconic frontmen in metal history, known for being particularly animated and donning a machismo attitude that became emblematic of the general theme of Pantera. Earlier in his career with the band, Anselmo took considerable inspiration from traditional heavy metal vocalists such as Rob Halford, singing in full head voice. However, he later became recognized for a more abrasive style of vocals, and formed a number of extreme metal projects such as Scour.
Early life Anselmo was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and is mainly of Italian and French heritage. He also has Danish heritage through his maternal great-grandmother. Additional January 6, 2017. Article title and subtitle Swedish, interview English. He attended many schools across Louisiana and Texas, the last of which was Grace King High School in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie, which he dropped out of during 12th grade. Anselmo's father, Phil, owned and operated a restaurant in Metairie called Anselmo's, which closed following Hurricane Katrina. Anselmo has said in various interviews that he was the class clown as a child. As a teenager, Anselmo accidentally started a fire in his parents' house while attempting to prank his sister. The incident resulted in smoke damage to most of the furniture and part of the house needing renovation. Anselmo worked on a shrimp boat with his stepfather in his teenage years.
Career In 1981, Anselmo co-formed his first band, Samhain (not to be confused with Glenn Danzig's band of the same name), together with friends from around the area, performing vocal and guitar duties. In 1985, he joined the band Vapid Phaze who would later rename themselves to Razor White, after one of the songs Anselmo wrote. While they did have some original material, they mainly played cover songs of popular rock and metal bands. Around this time, Anselmo quit high school to concentrate on his musical career. After about a year-plus with the band, he became frustrated with Razor White's direction and began to explore other options. "They wanted to go off on this Dokken trip and I was goin', 'No, I can't go through that,' so I split. They're super cool dudes, they're just lost musically," Anselmo said in 1991.
Pantera
By 1986, Pantera had released three albums via Metal Magic Records, but did not garner much attention, because the band was not signed with a major record label at the time. Seeking a new frontman to continue down a heavier path, the band's original singer Terry Glaze, who was primarily a glam metal vocalist, left the band. In 1986, after several meetings, then-18-year old Anselmo was officially added to the Pantera lineup. Anselmo relocated to Texas to record Pantera's fourth album, Power Metal, which was released in 1988.
Following the release of Power Metal, the band dropped its glam image and adopted a more casual look. In 1989, after being rejected "28 times by every major label on the face of the Earth", Pantera signed to Atco Records, and released their fifth album, Cowboys from Hell, in the following year, which paved the way towards the band's stardom and defined a new style of metal known as groove metal. As a tour unfolded to promote the band's latest album, there was documented portions of this tour on their first home video, Cowboys from Hell: The Videos, released in 1991.
In February 1992, Pantera released their sixth studio album, Vulgar Display of Power, which featured an even heavier sound than its predecessor. The album eventually reached number 40 on the US Billboard 200 chart and sold more than two million copies worldwide. They later released Far Beyond Driven in March 1994, which debuted at number one in the US.
In late June, Anselmo was charged with assault following an altercation with a security guard when fans were prevented from getting on stage. He was released on $5,000 bail the next day. The trial was delayed three times. In May 1995, he apologized in court, plead guilty to attempted assault, and was ordered to undergo 100 hours of community service.
In 1996, Pantera released their eighth studio album, The Great Southern Trendkill. Due to growing tensions between Anselmo and the rest of the band, he recorded the vocal tracks for this album in New Orleans, while the other members recorded in Texas. The latter peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 chart. They followed up with their first and only official live album titled Official Live: 101 Proof, featuring two new studio tracks.
In March 2000, Pantera released their ninth and final studio album, Reinventing the Steel, where it also peaked at number four. After touring to promote the album, Anselmo wanted to take a year break off from the group, followed by the September 11 attacks that abruptly cut their upcoming tour with Slayer, which led to their hiatus.
In 2003, Pantera released their first compilation album, The Best of Pantera: Far Beyond the Great Southern Cowboys' Vulgar Hits! (alternatively titled Reinventing Hell: The Best of Pantera in Europe). The album featured songs from five studio albums with Anselmo, and also included three cover tracks. A bonus DVD was also made, containing all of the band's music videos. Later that year, Pantera disbanded over communication problems and accusations that Anselmo had neglected the band.
In July 2022, it was announced that Anselmo would be joining bassist Rex Brown, along with Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante (as the respective fill-ins for Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul), for Pantera's first world tour in 22 years in 2023.
Post-Pantera Following the disbandment, Anselmo devoted much of his time to a longtime side project, Superjoint Ritual. Having heard of this, the Abbott brothers of Pantera (guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul) went on to form Damageplan with guitarist Pat Lachman on vocals and Bob Zilla on bass.
After Vinnie Paul slammed Superjoint Ritual, saying Anselmo could not even keep his eyes open, Anselmo responded and replied, "I just hear a big and sad yellowbelly crybaby fuckin' knowing that his meal ticket is in a different fuckin' band ... You would have to know those guys to really understand where I was coming from. They're scared of their own fuckin' shadows. And, all that said, I wish them the best of fuckin' luck. I still love 'em." Anselmo had engaged in a war of words with Dimebag Darrell since the disbandment of Pantera, culminating in the statement "Dimebag deserves to be beaten severely" in the December 2004 edition of the UK's Metal Hammer magazine. Initially, he denied making the statement, but later changed his story in a VH1 Behind the Music special on Pantera, claiming that the comment had been lighthearted and made off the record. However, Vinnie Paul told the press that he had heard the audio files of the interview and that Anselmo had not been misquoted.
On December 8, 2004, Dimebag Darrell was shot and killed while performing with Damageplan at the Alrosa Villa nightclub in Columbus, Ohio. At the request of Darrell's family, Anselmo did not attend his funeral.
In a lengthy and emotional video posted on Down's official website, Anselmo described his regret over his previous behavior, and has written and recorded music dealing with the loss of Darrell on the Down record Over the Under. The band dedicated their song "Lifer" to Darrell. Anselmo stated that he wished to restart his friendship with Vinnie Paul, but a reconciliation had not occurred when Paul died on June 22, 2018.
In a July 2015 interview with Rolling Stone, Anselmo spoke out against Pantera and his other band's usage of the Confederate flag, saying that it was a mistake to use it on their merchandise, albums, and other promotional material. Anselmo said "These days, I wouldn't want anything to fucking do with it because truthfully ... I wouldn't. The way I feel and the group of people I've had to work with my whole life, you see a Confederate flag out there that says 'Heritage, not hate.' I'm not so sure I'm buying into that." Anselmo said originally, that Pantera used the image because they were huge fans of Lynyrd Skynyrd, but it was never about promoting hate.
Down
Down is a heavy metal supergroup formed in 1991 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The band consists of Phil Anselmo (Pantera), Jimmy Bower of Eyehategod, Pepper Keenan of Corrosion of Conformity, Kirk Windstein and Pat Bruders of Crowbar. Other former members include Rex Brown also of Pantera, Todd Strange of Sun Don't Shine and Bobby Landgraf
Since its inception, Down has released three studio albums (NOLA, A Bustle in Your Hedgerow, Over the Under), two EPs, one live album, and has gone on hiatus twice to focus on the members' respective bands.
Superjoint Ritual
Superjoint Ritual is a New Orleans metal band formed by Anselmo, Joe Fazzio, and Jimmy Bower in the early 1990s, later to be joined by Hank Williams III and Kevin Bond. Their style can be considered a mix of sludge metal and hardcore punk. According to Bower, Anselmo wrote 70–80% of the group's music. During their time together they have released three full-length albums via Sanctuary Records, Use Once and Destroy in 2002, A Lethal Dose of American Hatred in 2003, and Caught Up in the Gears of Application in 2016.
Side projects Arson Anthem
Arson Anthem is a Southern hardcore punk project that originated when Eyehategod singer Mike Williams moved into Anselmo's spare apartment after losing all his possessions in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The two spent countless hours listening to Anselmo's collection of early hardcore bands. They began jamming with Hank Williams III and Collin Yeo, who were united by their desire to have a hardcore/crust punk band of their own. The Arson Anthem lineup features Mike Williams on vocals, Anselmo on guitar, Hank Williams III on drums, and Collin Yeo on bass.
Christ Inversion Christ Inversion was formed in 1994. The group was a short-lived black metal/sludge metal project formed by Anselmo, where he played guitar under the alias "Anton Crowley", it also featured Wayne Fabra on vocals, best known for being part of Necrophagia and for playing drums in Graveyard Rodeo. Most of their lyrics were based on horror films and Diabolism. The band recorded two demos in 1994 and 1995 respectively, and then disbanded without ever recording a full-length album. Many years later, songs from the first demo were put on an eight-track compilation and released through Anselmo's own Housecore Records on October 28, 2008. The second demo was also planned to see a re-release, however this never surfaced.
Southern Isolation The band on October 30, 2001 released one EP called Southern Isolation. It originally contained four songs but was later re-released in 2002 with a fifth bonus track. The band consisted of Anselmo's then-girlfriend Stephanie Opal Weinstein on vocals, Anselmo on vocals, backing vocals and guitars, "Big" Ross Karpelman (of Clearlight) on keyboards, and Sid Montz (of Crowbar) on drums.
One rare track called "Faded" has been credited to Southern Isolation on the Manson Family soundtrack.
Viking Crown