Former HADES guitarist and current editor of New Jersey's Steppin' Out magazine, Dan Lorenzo, recently caught up with vocalist PHIL ANSELMO (DOWN/ex-PANTERA). Following is an excerpt from the forthcoming full story:

Dan: Your solo CD is brutal from beginning to end. Did you have any thoughts about making it more diverse or more radio accessible?

Phil: "Not even at all. No. The radio popularity contests and all that shit, I don't give one F about at all. This was absolutely a record that I wanted to make. An extreme album in today's climate where it doesn't have to fall under death metal or black metal or any of those sub-genres. I wanted it to be a record that's very hard to slide into a particular slot. To call it heavy metal, that's fair enough, but to me I wanted to do an extreme record that was just as extreme as anything else but without, I guess the preconceived notions especially lyrically and topically like when you listen to death metal or black metal you already kind of have a general idea where the lyrics are going to go. I wanted to sing about real things. Real things in my life."

Dan: Listening to you speak makes me happy. This is the first time I've spoken to you since you got straight. How did you finally get clean?

Phil: "It takes a lot of distancing yourself from the source of the problem. Also nipping the source of the problem in the bud. I was going through tremendous amounts of... physical pain and I addressed that by having major back surgery and that's no walk in the park. I think once you embrace the physical rehabilitation part of it, and you really really buy into the program...only good things can come of it. Once the body feels better then the mind feels better- if that makes any sense."

Dan: Of course.

Phil: "That goes hand in hand. Then there's other factors like divorce which was definitely needed because I needed to get away from that particular person to move on. Then I also have a fantastic new woman...not really 'new' we've been together eleven f'ing years now. Her support is unending and undying and unwavering. To have this positive influence in my life is such a great thing. It's up to the individual. If you put in the work and the time and you really want your life back...then it's there to be had. It doesn't matter what level of life you're on or where you live or what you do. You can f'ing do it if you put your mind to it."

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PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS will release the new album, Walk Through Exits Only, on July 16th via Anselmo's Housecore Records (MRI/Megaforce). Walk Through Exits Only will be available digitally, on CD and on vinyl.

Produced by Philip Anselmo and Michael Thompson, and recorded over the past couple of years at his New Orleans studio, Nodferatu's Lair, with his band The Illegals - Marzi Montazeri/guitar, and drummer Jose Manuel "Blue" Gonzales, Walk Through Exits Only is abrasive, aggressive, anthemic and 100% Anselmo. The album's eight songs are as unstrained as it gets, from 'Battalion Of Zero' to 'Usurper's Bastard Rant', to the album's title track that goes against the grain and right through the exits. Brash, brutal guitars cut through punishing percussion as Anselmo screams with uncompromising ferocity and uncontainable fire.

Tracklisting:

'Music Media Is My Whore'

'Battalion Of Zero'

'Betrayed'

'Usurper Bastard's Rant'

'Walk Through Exits Only'

'Bedroom Destroyer'

'Bedridden'

'Irrelevant Walls And Computer Screens'

Listen to the album's title track:

'Usurper Bastard's Rant' can currently be streamed at this location.

"It wasn't about doing a paint-by-numbers thrash or heavy metal record," Anselmo explained about the project. "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. On this album, there isn't any wordplay, there isn't any hidden message, it's all right there in front of you."

Anselmo and the Illegals will support the new album with a major North American tour planned for this summer.

On Walk Through Exits Only and over his entire career, Anselmo hasn't just paved his own path, he's bulldozed it with his bare hands.

Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals will take to the road for their first-ever tour, dubbed Technicians Of Distortion, which will kick off July 31st in Tulsa, OK. Support on the tour comes from AUTHOR & PUNISHER.

Tickets are on sale now at this location.

Tour dates:

July

31 - Cain's Ballroom - Tulsa, OK

August

2 - Wooly's - Des Moines, IA
3 - First Avenue - Minneapolis, MN
4 - House of Blues - Chicago, IL
6 - House of Blues - Cleveland, OH
7 - The Intersection - Grand Rapids, MI
9 - Royal Oak Music Theatre - Royal Oak, MI
10 - Danforth Music Hall - Toronto, ON
11 - Heavy MTL Festival - Montreal, QC
13 - The Palladium - Worcester, MA
14 - Upstate Concert Hall - Clifton Park, NY
16 - Best Buy Theatre - New York, NY
17 - Union Transfer - Philadelphia, PA
18 - The Fillmore - Silver Spring, MD
20 - The Masquerade - Heaven Stage, Atlanta, GA

Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals lineup:

Philip H. Anselmo - Vocals

Marzi Montazeri - Guitars

Bennett Bartley - Bass

Jose Manuel Gonzales - Drums