Legendary Rock Interviews recently caught up with vocalist PHIL ANSELMO (DOWN, ex-PANTERA). An excerpt from the interview is available below:

LRI: Your label, Housecore, isn’t what some people think it is. It’s truly a throwback to the old days of people running a little label hands on and doing shit their own way exclusively. Obviously you’ve heard of Jonny Z and Marsha Z (Megaforce Records) and Brian Slagel (Metal Blade) and you know their stories, what was your influence as far as wanting to actually do something like that?

Phil: "Honestly, the biggest influence was my being a young guy, getting signed to a major label, not realizing the fucking ramifications of actually doing such a fucking thing. When you’re young and you’re approached by a major label and they say 'We want to sign you for 7 records' at first you feel flattered because you think 'Wow, they want us for seven whole records, they must love us' but little do you know or understand, it’s a binding contract and 7 albums is a fucking insane chunk out of your life. You are exclusively signed to that fucking label and you need to jump through every hoop in the fucking world if you wanna create other music and put it out on different labels and shit like that which is really fucking a no-no and against the rules in that world. That’s where I totally fucking rebelled back in the day by doing Necrophagia and all that shit under a psuedonym. For me, I wanted to create a label where if your name is on the fuckin simple one album contract and you deliver that one fuckin album, I don’t care if you turn around tomorrow and put out a whole different record on another label because honestly that is the freedom of music. That’s showing the musician respect as a musician and that was my first real thought on doing Housecore Records. I wanted to do a label that was musician friendly and I think that we are, very much so."

Click here for the complete in-depth interview.

Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals released the new album, Walk Through Exits Only, on July 16th via Anselmo's Housecore Records (MRI/Megaforce). Walk Through Exits Only is 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'

BraveWords' review of Walk Through Exits Only can be found here.