PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS

Most people follow, while very few will actually lead. However, the only way to know if you're truly alive is to diverge from the norm. You have to break the mold, dive underground, and veer off into unexpected and uncharted territory. That's precisely where you find out what you're really made of. Philip H. Anselmo hasn't just paved his own path; he's bulldozed it with his bare hands. His primal, powerful presence led Pantera to Grammy Award nominations, sales of 20 million albums worldwide, legions of diehard fans, and an indisputable heavy metal legacy. Simultaneously, Down carved out a distinct niche with a gold-selling debut and three more critically acclaimed releases, most recently, 2012's Down IV Part I – The Purple EP.

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Instead of treading the same ground, Anselmo and his band mates "The Illegals"—Marzi Montazeri [guitar] and Jose Manuel "Blue" Gonzalez [drums]—open up another doorway altogether with their 2013 debut album, Walk Through Exits Only, available through the vocalist's very own Housecore Records. It's abrasive, aggressive, and anthemic. In other words, it's purely Anselmo. The genesis of Walk Through Exits Only proved both comfortable and natural for its architect. In fact, everything began to slowly come together in the frontman's New Orleans home back in 2010. "It started right there in the fucking black bedroom where I haunt," he smiles. "When I get an itch, I've got to scratch it. The sole idea at the beginning was to be unorthodox. It wasn't about doing a paint-by-numbers thrash or heavy metal record. I've always believed there are different elements of groove. It's definitely not a cemented science. It's an angry album that only I could do. I don't see anybody else out there screaming about the same shit I'm screaming about."

In many ways, Walk Through Exits Only embodies the same underground spirit and ethos that Anselmo has proudly possessed for his whole life. Since his career began, he consistently shined light on what was happening beneath the typical "surface" of music, whether by inviting Morbid Angel, Eyehategod, Crowbar, or Neurosis onto a Pantera tour or donning a Darkthrone or Mayhem t-shirt on television or in a major publication. He's gone against the grain, past the tides, and right through the exits. Not only does Walk Through Exits Only break from tradition, it lays the groundwork for a new road. "Fuck another chapter," concludes Anselmo. "This is a whole new book. Some might call it ambitious. I say it's natural. I can do anything I want with this, and I will. I want people to take that unpredictability with them. If you're in a younger band, I want you to realize you don't have to play by the fucking rules. I want everyone to see that there's a lot more to the story than they'd ever realized when it comes to me. You can't and won't be able to tell what comes next from the kid. You can't pin me down unless it's in my own fucking corner which will be painted black and say, 'Reserved for Philip H. Anselmo'. You're very welcome to do that." [Rick Florino, February 2013]