Article By: Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker ‡ Edited By: Leanne Ridgeway
We are now just a matter of hours away from the official release of The Kid’s sophomore outing, one that is pretty much under his name, for the most part. Of course, I’m talking about the audio antagonist himself, Phillip H. Anselmo & The Illegals.
That album, ‘Choosing Mental Illness As A Virtue‘ will drop tomorrow, Friday, January 26 from Anselmo’s Housecore Records (in the U.S., and Season of Mist in Europe) label. However, we are serving it up for you now, here… today! It is streaming in full via the Soundcloud embed below so check it out if you feel you possess the spinal fortitude necessary to withstand such an assured sonic onslaught.
If you are even a modicum somewhat involved with heavy music, be it either just a newbie or hell, an aging, graying stalwart of savagery – like myself of course – then you know damn well who Phil Anselmo is. From his time fronting the iconic southern groove metal legends Pantera to other seminal ventures such as DOWN, Superjoint (Ritual), Scour, Arson Anthem, Viking Crown, Christ Inversion, Eibon, Southern Isolation, Necrophagia, etc., etc., Phil is the living, breathing embodiment of all that is abrasively metallic.
Outspoken and oft controversial, Phil has been a forward-moving trailblazer within the underground. Now, he, and The Illegals band-mates, Mike DeLeon (guitar), Joey Gonzalez (drums), and Stephen Taylor (bass), prepare to charge once more into the fray.
That blitz comes packaged as this 10-song strike of pure, unbridled metal aggression and it ain’t pretty. I mean that with all due respect of course but with ‘Choosing Mental Illness As A Virtue‘, the guys have created something that I would say is the aural translation of true mental deficiency. Yes, if mental unbalance has a soundtrack, this is it.
