\n
![\"anselmocover1\"](\"https:\/\/themetalden.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/anselmocover1-205x300.jpg\")
<\/a>\n
![\"TMD\"](\"https:\/\/themetalden.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/tmdsite435x751lk-2-1.gif\")
\n
\nLike so many huge mistakes, this one was made in Hollywood. Phil Anselmo was in town for the Dimebash, an annual benefit concert held to commemorate the life and music of Anselmo\u2019s former Pantera bandmate \u201cDimebag\u201d Darrell Abbott, who was gunned down onstage 12 years ago in Columbus, OH. By many accounts, emotions were running high\u2014this was, after all, a tribute to a massively talented and beloved musician who was murdered while doing what he loved\u2014and the booze was flowing freely. But it was all for a good cause: Proceeds from the show would go to the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund. With a star-studded cast that included the Foo Fighters\u2019 Dave Grohl, Metallica\u2019s Robert Trujillo, Slayer members Gary Holt and Paul Bostaph and former Pantera bassist Rex Brown, Anselmo sawed off a handful of Pantera classics and a cover of Mot\u00f6rhead\u2019s \u201cAce of Spades\u201d at Lucky Strike Live on Hollywood Boulevard. At the end of the set, Anselmo raised his arm in the Sieg Heil salute and shouted \u201cWhite power!\u201d
\n
\nThe following feature is taken from the December 2016 issue of Decibel magazine, which is available for purchase HERE<\/a>. <\/strong>
\n
\n
![\"dimebash2016\"](\"https:\/\/themetalden.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/dimebash2016-2-220x300.jpg\")
<\/a>\n
\nIt was an ignominious end to what was otherwise a fun and nostalgic night of music. Pig Destroyer bassist John Jarvis, who also plays with Anselmo in black metal act Scour, was at Dimebash with fellow Scour member Derek Engemann (also of Cattle Decapitation). \u201cBefore that happened, it was pretty much one of the greatest times we\u2019ve ever had,\u201d Jarvis tells Decibel. \u201cWe spent the whole day with Phil and got wasted out of our minds, of course. Derek and I were backstage hanging out with Dave Grohl and Rob Trujillo and Dave Lombardo\u2014all these superstars backstage, and they\u2019re all in awe of Phil. It\u2019s crazy to see Dave Grohl be like, \u2018Look\u2014there\u2019s Phil Anselmo!\u2019 and kind of get starstruck.\u201d<\/p>\n
After Anselmo raised his arm in the notorious Nazi salute, Jarvis and Engemann didn\u2019t know what to do. Scour\u2019s debut had already been recorded, but hadn\u2019t been released yet. Suddenly it seemed like their new project might be dead in the water. \u201cWe didn\u2019t go backstage after it happened because we were just like, \u2018What the fuck was that? Did that really just happen?\u2019\u201d Jarvis explains. \u201cThe walk back to the hotel that night was kind of questioning if Scour should even happen. Those types of actions can end any band.\u201d In fact, nothing happened for almost a week. The Dimebash was held on Jan. 22. It wasn\u2019t until Jan. 27 that video footage surfaced on YouTube showing Anselmo doing the now infamous deed. The audience member who posted the footage had cut Anselmo\u2019s coup de grace from his initial post, but ultimately reconsidered and reposted an unedited version. As the comments section lit up like a Christmas tree, Anselmo did himself no favors by chiming in via the Housecore Records YouTube handle with, \u201cOk folks, I\u2019ll own this one, but dammit, I was joking and the \u2018inside joke of the night\u2019 was because we were drinking fucking white wine, hahaha\u2026 of all fucking things. Some of y\u2019all need to thicken up your skin. There\u2019s plenty of fuckers to pick on with a more realistic agenda. I fucking love everyone, I fucking loathe everyone, and that\u2019s that. No apologies from me.\u201d<\/p>\n On Jan. 29, Machine Head ringleader Robb Flynn\u2014who played Pantera songs with Anselmo at Dimebash\u2014released an 11-minute response video in which he denounced Anselmo as a \u201cbig bully\u201d and a racist. He concluded by saying that he would never play another Pantera song again. The same day, former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach, who toured with Pantera when they supported Skid Row on the Slave to the Grind tour in 1992 and once created a well-deserved shitstorm of his own by wearing a T-shirt bearing the slogan \u201cAIDS Kills Fags Dead\u201d\u2014tweeted, \u201cPeople who say White Power are PUSSIES.\u201d As the days lurched by, the backlash kept coming from all corners of the metal world.<\/p>\n On Jan. 30, Anselmo released a video message in which he changed his tune considerably: \u201cIt was ugly, it was uncalled for, and anyone who knows me and my true nature knows that I don\u2019t believe in any of that\u2026 I am a thousand percent apologetic to anyone that took offense to what I said, because you should have taken offense to what I said. And I am so sorry, and I hope you\u2026 just give me another chance. I love all of you\u2026 Bless you.\u201d In the pages that follow, Anselmo gives the first major interview he\u2019s done since Dimebash. In our effort to provide as many viewpoints as possible, we reached out to several of the musicians who publicly denounced Anselmo\u2019s actions. Zakk Wylde declined to comment for this story. The publicist who represents both Kerry King and Scott Ian informed us that they were unavailable to speak with us. Our emails to Sebastian Bach\u2019s manager remain unanswered as of press time. Meanwhile, the notorious Dimebash video, posted on YouTube by user Chris R. under the title \u201cPhil Anselmo is a Racist! Ruins Dimebash 2016,\u201d has well over a million views as this story goes to print. \u201cPlease use my words precisely,\u201d he adds. \u201cBecause I\u2019m recording you as well, just to make sure that what I say doesn\u2019t get twisted\u2014not that I don\u2019t trust you. This is for my own safety.\u201d<\/p>\n On the day we speak with him\u2014Sept. 21, 2016, to be exact\u2014Anselmo is taking a break from recording with Warbeast, the Texas thrash band he\u2019s producing for his label, Housecore Records. Since shortly before Dimebash, he\u2019s been working on music relentlessly, completing new recordings with Superjoint, Scour, Philip H. Anselmo & the Illegals and a mysterious death metal project called Metraton Nganga that he says he can\u2019t discuss just yet. \u201cFrom the end of last year till now, I\u2019m probably sitting on about five or six records,\u201d he reveals. \u201cThere\u2019s about two and a half albums\u2019 worth of Illegals stuff alone.\u201d<\/p>\n The biggest news of the bunch is the latest Superjoint record, Caught Up in the Gears of Application. It\u2019s the first new Superjoint album since 2003. The band, formerly known as Superjoint Ritual, then featured bassist Hank Williams III, guitarist Jimmy Bower (also of Down and Eyehategod), guitarist Kevin Bond and drummer Joe Fazzio. In 2004, the whole operation went tits-up in a tornado of drug abuse and bad blood before reemerging with a new lineup to play Anselmo\u2019s Housecore Horror Festival in 2014. \u201cWe were having some internal problems and then\u2026 I don\u2019t wanna throw everyone under the bus, so I\u2019ll just make me and Jimmy the main culprits,\u201d Anselmo offers. \u201cWe were coming off of hard drugs, which is always very traumatic. We\u2019re talking over a decade ago now, but if you\u2019re gonna take the correct steps in defeating that type of addiction, you\u2019ve gotta part ways with old acquaintances. So, there was that, and then I had back surgery and knee surgery, and then there was the resurgence of Down\u2014all that put [Superjoint] off.\u201d It\u2019s our discussion of the new Superjoint album that slowly but surely leads back to the fateful events of Dimebash. When asked what inspired the title of the record, Anselmo replies, \u201cI don\u2019t want to spoil it for everybody, but it\u2019s an interesting take on the world we live in today. And it\u2019s funny that I wrote it a year ago, considering the year that I\u2019ve had. It\u2019s very self-prophesizing, so to speak. It just goes to show how it\u2019s very different in this day and age compared to when we were coming up as young musicians in a genre of music that was meant to be cutting edge and free and meant to speak our minds and come from the school of GG Allin and the Mentors\u2014or a band like Anal Cunt. It makes one wonder how those bands would fare in today\u2019s society. It\u2019s Anselmo who asks us to put the quotation marks around \u2018trigger.\u2019 And then he gets right down to business: \u201cFirst and foremost, I do take full accountability,\u201d he says of his Dimebash showing. \u201cI\u2019m not deflecting at all. What I did was insulting, absolutely, and abhorrent, because it did truly upset people, and it hurts my heart that anyone would think that I\u2019m the dreaded \u2018R\u2019 word\u2014a racist. Anyone who truly knows me knows that it\u2019s utterly ridiculous. But if I did offend my Jewish friends, people I work with, my associates, other people in bands\u2026 if I were to upset people in that particular way\u2014that\u2019s why I apologized. That apology is there\u2014and no, you won\u2019t get another one ever again.\u201d <\/p>\n Then he pauses and mentions something that seems to have been largely overlooked in the massive online pissing match that followed Dimebash. \u201cIt\u2019s kinda funny, considering I\u2019ve got a Mexican drummer and a half-black guitar player,\u201d he laughs. When asked what he thinks of Flynn\u2019s video, Anselmo simply replies, \u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n But he dismisses the accusations of racism outright. \u201cI\u2019m no rustic fucking fool,\u201d he says, the agitation palpable in his voice. \u201cThat\u2019s simpleton think. And I\u2019m not quite as simple as people would envision me. I\u2019ve said it throughout the years, but my heroes are black; they\u2019re Jewish\u2014Mel Brooks, Rod Serling. The first time I shaved the sides of my head was because of Mike Tyson. The [Pantera] song \u2018Mouth for War\u2019 was written about the middleweight champ at the time\u2014James fucking Toney. I don\u2019t think people even know that.<\/p>\n \u201cShould I have done it?\u201d he says of his Dimebash finale. \u201cHell fucking no. Would I take it back? Absolutely. But my sense of humor is dark and my temper is and always has been volatile, so I reacted. I reacted in an ignorant way. I own it. But do I believe in it? That\u2019s ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, this isn\u2019t the first time the words \u201cPhil Anselmo\u201d and \u201cracist\u201d have appeared in the same sentence together. During Pantera\u2019s heyday, MTV did an interview with Anselmo about fans shouting \u201cWhite power!\u201d at the band\u2019s shows. In the introduction to the segment, commentator Kurt Loder mentioned \u201crumblings of the alleged racism in the band\u2019s lyrics\u201d and pointed out the triskelion\u2014a symbol used by the South African neo-Nazi organization AWB (Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging)\u2014on the T-shirt Anselmo wore during the interview. The singer flatly denied all allegations of racism at the time, but didn\u2019t help his case during a 1995 Pantera concert in Montreal, during which he went on a long, tortured rant against a then-popular T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan \u201cStop Black on Black Crime.\u201d As for Pantera\u2019s supposedly racist lyrics? \u201cLet me make it very clear, here and now: I have never written a white power song in my entire discography,\u201d he insists. \u201cMaybe I\u2019ve said controversial things, but that\u2019s the school of music that I come from. If you want safe music and safe spaces and all that type of shit, then run screaming in the other direction, please, and go toward yon safety. Way back when, if you didn\u2019t like what someone was saying, you change the channel. It\u2019s not all that difficult.\u201d His analysis is this: \u201cFirst and foremost, I was absolutely smashed drunk. No excuse, but I was. It was late and my mood was mixed because of the situation in general. We were honoring my dead, murdered guitar player and it\u2019s still something that a piece of me has not come to grips with. I know people are reading this in black and white, but it makes my heart ache as I say it. Now, [from] the second I stepped on that stage until the bitter end of that night, there were a couple of kids with an absolute agenda constantly, all night long, calling me the dreaded \u2018R\u2019 word. \u2018Racist, racist, racist,\u2019 over and over and over\u2014in between songs, during songs, during my stage banter. And I marked it: At 4:35 in the video, you can see my attention slowly beginning to get irked and agitated. By 5:10, you can see me actually eyeballing these people and engaging. They were 70 feet away from me screaming this shit. I even invited them up onstage and dared them to call me that to my fuckin\u2019 face, and I said I would knock them out cold. You can check the video for yourself. Can you hear the kids? No, you can\u2019t. But I most certainly did. And I\u2019ve talked with people who were there who can corroborate because they were standing right next to them.\u201d Jarvis says he didn\u2019t hear the audience members calling Anselmo a racist, but he says it\u2019s possible that they did. \u201cLike I said, I was wasted, too,\u201d he explains. \u201cIt all happened so fast, you know? But it went from the best time ever to the worst.\u201d <\/p>\n Ultimately, Anselmo claims he yelled \u201cWhite power!\u201d and threw the Nazi salute because he was joking about drinking white wine backstage and because he was reacting to the audience members up front who he says were taunting him. But then he drops an extra detail we hadn\u2019t heard before. \u201cThe white wine thing was a running joke backstage after\u2014get this\u2014kissing Doug Pinnick on the lips. And he says to me, \u2018Whoa\u2014you taste good!\u2019 Because I was drinking a bottle of white wine. I even joked about it with him\u2014\u2018white power,\u2019 hahaha. The funny thing about that is that particular room was for certain artists only. Other certain people who were part of the Dimebash were not allowed back there. I guess they felt slighted or\u2014in quotation marks\u2014\u2018offended.\u2019 So, there was a running gag there, and it carried on even after the incident. What went down onstage was an extension of that, but also a firm reaction to these motherfuckers [up front], who, that\u2019s exactly what they wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n Doug Pinnick plays bass and sings in King\u2019s X. He was at Dimebash. He\u2019s also black. And came out as gay back in 1998. We called him to ask about the interaction he had with Anselmo before Phil went onstage: \u201cYeah, Phil kissed me,\u201d Pinnick laughs. \u201cI hadn\u2019t seen him since Dime was killed, but I walked backstage and he got up, hugged me as hard as he could and whispered in my ear, \u2018You are the greatest human being I\u2019ve ever known.\u2019 That\u2019s just how he is. He\u2019s over the top about everything. I love that guy.\u201d<\/p>\n Not that Pinnick condones Anselmo\u2019s actions onstage that night. \u201cHe shouldn\u2019t have done it. I can\u2019t stick up for what he said. I think he was trying to be funny and controversial, but he doesn\u2019t have a racist bone in his body. I know people say, \u2018How can you do something like that as a joke?\u2019 But you gotta know Phil and his sarcasm. He got shit on for it, and rightfully so, but the backlash he got was a little bit over the top, I think. These people that are saying all these horrible things about him, they don\u2019t know him. He\u2019s branded a racist forever now, probably. That\u2019ll be part of his r\u00e9sum\u00e9. But I hope he can recover from it and continue making music.\u201d Anselmo confirms that he hasn\u2019t had a drink since Mardi Gras. He says the Eyehategod shows he recently did\u2014filling in for EHG vocalist Mike Williams, who is battling severe health problems\u2014were the first gigs he can recall doing sober. \u201cI don\u2019t miss it; I don\u2019t crave it,\u201d he says of his trusty Beck\u2019s and alcohol in general. \u201cThe taste is gone from the old tongue, and if that\u2019s the case I\u2019m gonna keep rolling with it. Now, will I have a sip at some point in the future? I honestly don\u2019t know. It\u2019s a day-by-day thing. But I feel much better as far as being onstage and having that clarity.\u201d He concludes by saying that he won\u2019t be doing many interviews after this\u2014if any. In fact, he plans to keep his public appearances limited to the stage. \u201cAs far as extended conversations with me, outside, after the gig\u2014that shit that I used to really look forward to, like meeting people and signing stuff? That shit is gonna be brief and monosyllabic at best on my end,\u201d he says. \u201cThose things they call phones that are actually way more than phones have ruined the experience.<\/p>\n \u201cTwo words and one hand gesture do not define my fucking career,\u201d he adds. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot more to me than that. Everyone who keeps living off that blip of time, they\u2019re in for quite a shock in the next couple years. The music that I have coming out is gonna show that I\u2019m a musician first and foremost. I\u2019m not a politico. I may have my observations about the world, but they\u2019re gonna be tongue in cheek.\u201d Like so many huge mistakes, this one was made in Hollywood. Phil Anselmo was in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-metal-interviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/themetalden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/themetalden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/themetalden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themetalden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themetalden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=51173"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/themetalden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51962,"href":"https:\/\/themetalden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51173\/revisions\/51962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/themetalden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=51173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themetalden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=51173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themetalden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=51173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n
\n![\"philwhitepower\"](\"https:\/\/themetalden.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/philwhitepower-300x259.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n
\nJarvis and Engemann braced themselves for the inevitable real-time fallout, but were met with total silence. \u201cI remember driving home and being like, \u2018How could this not be a news story yet?\u2019\u201d Jarvis recalls. \u201cThen I thought, \u2018Well, maybe it didn\u2019t happen. Maybe I was just wasted.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\n
\n![\"SAYREVILLE,](\"https:\/\/themetalden.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/PhilandzakkBROS1-1-300x200.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n
\n![\"lightningstrike3\"](\"https:\/\/themetalden.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/lightningstrike3-3-167x300.png\")
<\/a>
\n
\nOn Feb. 1, Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian, who is Jewish, released a statement on his official website saying, \u201cPhilip\u2019s actions were vile\u201d and invited Anselmo to make a donation to the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Later that month, Black Label Society\u2019s Zakk Wylde, who has long been touted as a potential stand-in for Dimebag at any potential Pantera reunion, was asked about the Dimebash debacle by Fuse. \u201cI saw the video [of the incident] and I\u2019m like, \u2018What are you doing, man?\u2019\u201d the guitarist replied. \u201cBut he apologized and he knows he\u2019s wrong\u2026 I\u2019m pretty much\u2026 like everybody else, just as bummed out and saddened by the whole thing, man.\u201d When Slayer guitarist Kerry King was asked in March by Vanyaland for his opinion on Anselmo\u2019s actions, he replied, \u201cThere\u2019s a line I think he crossed a little bit; yeah, he may not come back from that. It was massive.\u201d
\n
\n![\"zakkhonorfinal2016\"](\"https:\/\/themetalden.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/ZakkHonorFINAL2016-300x153.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n
\nIn the aftermath, Anselmo\u2019s main band, Down, was dropped from Holland\u2019s FortaRock festival by the event\u2019s organizers, who issued a statement saying, in part, \u201cWe want to make clear that there is no room for racism or fascism at FortaRock.\u201d A few days later, the French government pulled a 20,000-euro grant from Hellfest, citing Down\u2019s scheduled appearance on the bill and the government\u2019s policy against hate speech. Hellfest organizers refused to drop Down and claimed the government was looking for any excuse to rescind the cash, but Anselmo and Down bowed out of the festival of their accord. At one point, the heat got so bad that Anselmo made a second public apology via his own website and suggested that his bandmates in Down \u201cmove on\u201d without him.<\/p>\n
\n
\n![\"philcoversface2016\"](\"https:\/\/themetalden.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/philcoversface2016-300x188.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n(Photo by: Danin Drahos)
\n
\n\u201cThe truth is, I\u2019m doing myself no fucking favors by granting this interview,\u201d Anselmo says when we call him at home in Louisiana. \u201cThere\u2019s gonna be all those pussy websites that claim they\u2019re heavy metal websites that are gonna poke holes through everything I fucking say\u2014or desperately try to\u2014which, good luck with that.<\/p>\n
\n
\n![\"superjointband\"](\"https:\/\/themetalden.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Superjointband-1-300x225.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n
\nOn top of that, Superjoint had a legal problem that forced them to drop the \u201cRitual\u201d from the band name. \u201cThat\u2019s because there\u2019s a bloodsucking leech out there who took advantage of a situation,\u201d Anselmo says without naming names. \u201cBut we\u2019re all at fault as well for signing a document that basically has a zero sunset clause, meaning that this person is privy to a cut of any money a \u2018Superjoint Ritual\u2019 would make. Hence getting rid of the \u2018Ritual,\u2019 coming back as Superjoint, and cutting out that cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n
\n![\"superjointcover\"](\"https:\/\/themetalden.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/superjointcover-3-300x300.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n
\n\u201cWhat does today\u2019s young person really want?\u201d he continues. \u201cDo they want safe rock \u2019n\u2019 roll? Do they want safety within their music? That\u2019s not how we grew up. The more dangerous, the more cutting edge, the more attractive it was to us. Whether you meant what you were saying or not, if you shook things up, the more props to ya. But it seems like today if you shake things up, you\u2019re the scourge. So, the new Superjoint, needless to say, will\u2014gasp, hold your breath, get ready for it\u2014might \u2018trigger\u2019 some people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n
\n![\"superjointblackwhite\"](\"https:\/\/themetalden.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/superjointblackwhite-1-300x282.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n
\nHe\u2019s referring to Superjoint, Illegals (and, incidentally, Warbeast) drummer Jose \u201cBlue\u201d Gonzalez and Superjoint guitarist Kevin Bond, respectively. In all the uproar, it seems nobody bothered to examine the racial makeup of Superjoint. Or to point out that the Illegals\u2019 original guitarist, Marzi Montazeri, is Iranian. All of which only serves to highlight the two very different questions at issue here. The first: Were Anselmo\u2019s words and actions at Dimebash incredibly stupid, insensitive and inflammatory? Almost everyone with a brain\u2014including Anselmo\u2014agrees that they were. The second: Is Anselmo a racist? Of the many high-profile musicians who denounced his actions\u2014Flynn, Ian, Bach, King and Wylde\u2014only Flynn seems willing to go that far, even claiming in his response video that Anselmo pulled him aside at Dimebash and told Flynn how much he \u201chated the \u2018nigger era\u2019 of Machine Head.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n
\n![\"PANTERA,](\"https:\/\/themetalden.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/philarmsout-300x202.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n
\n\u201cPeople say I have a history of racism,\u201d Anselmo says today. \u201cWhen I was in Pantera, I was completely and utterly confused when, in the \u201990s, the T-shirt started circulating that said, \u2018Stop Black On Black Crime.\u2019 Today, as a damn-near-50-year-old man, living in 2016 where America is divided so completely, I understand it and I support that sentiment completely. But as a young man in my 20s, I didn\u2019t understand it and I did speak out vehemently against it because to me it basically said, \u2018Stop black on black crime, but everyone else is fair game.\u2019 That\u2019s how I took it. And anybody could get that misconception. So, there\u2019s your mighty racist history right there. I took offense to a T-shirt.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n
\n![\"Pantera\"](\"https:\/\/themetalden.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/PhilandDimebrothers-204x300.jpg\")
\n<\/a><\/a>
\n
\nPrior to our interview, Anselmo made some notes about a YouTube video. Not the \u201cPhil Anselmo is a Racist!\u201d video, but another one posted by a Dimebash audience member using the handle \u201crussdudeman.\u201d The title of the video is \u201cDimebash 1-22-16 All Of Phil Anselmo\u2019s Bits Between Songs.\u201d \u201cWhy on earth would I just scream what I did and make the hand gesture? Why did I do that?\u201d Anselmo asks. \u201cThat\u2019s the most valid question out there. So, I suggest that everyone check out this YouTube video. In preparing for this interview, I looked at it and it\u2019s amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n
\n![\"housecorelogo1\"](\"https:\/\/themetalden.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/housecorelogo1-1-300x199.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n
\nAnselmo\u2019s Scour bandmate John Jarvis confirms that there were audience members near the stage yelling at Anselmo, but he heard them saying something entirely different. \u201cThey were saying, \u2018You guys are heavy metal,\u2019\u201d he recalls. \u201cSo, the kid was trying to interact with Phil in a positive way, but I think what Phil heard was, \u2018You guys aren\u2019t heavy metal.\u2019 That\u2019s when the tone of the whole thing really went south. Then Phil said, \u2018I want you to come up here and say that to my face.\u2019 So, when he thought he heard something, the whole vibe went sour.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n
\nJohn Jarvis of Scour says he spoke with Anselmo shortly after the Dimebash video appeared online. \u201cWe talked it out, and he apologized, which meant a lot,\u201d he offers. \u201cIf he had come out and said, \u2018Fuck everybody, these are my views,\u2019 I would\u2019ve been like, \u2018I don\u2019t think I can be associated with you anymore, buddy. You\u2019ve lost your mind.\u2019 But luckily he was humbled enough to realize he had really fucked up and needed to change his life. And he has\u2014hasn\u2019t drank since February, as far as I know. Last time I saw him, he looked great and sounded better than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n
\n![\"philpipe2015\"](\"https:\/\/themetalden.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/philpipe2015-300x196.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n
\nToward the end of our two-hour conversation, we ask Anselmo if there\u2019s anything else he\u2019s learned from this whole mess. \u201cWell, I definitely know to retire the old \u2018white power\u2019 joke,\u201d he offers. \u201cLike Morrissey says, \u2018That joke isn\u2019t funny anymore. It\u2019s too close to home, too near the bone.\u2019 I understand that one hundred percent, so you\u2019ll never see that shit again. If people wanna get political with my ass, I\u2019ll just tell them to turn on the television, because I don\u2019t know the answers or the solutions to their fucking questions.\u201d <\/p>\n
\n
\nhttp:\/\/www.philanselmo.com\/<\/a>
\n
\nhttp:\/\/www.thehousecorerecords.com\/<\/a>
\n<\/center><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"