Philip Anselmo Wants to Make ‘Old School’ Metal Album With Rob Halford-Inspired Vocals
There's no debating that Judas Priest's Rob Halford has one of the most incredible vocal ranges in metal, so much so that Philip Anselmo is hoping to channel it on a new "old school" metal album he hopes to make.
The former Pantera frontman discussed his new musical endeavors during a chat with The New York Hardcore Chronicles Live! from his home in Louisiana.
"I just pretty much had a new studio installed next door, and we're working all kind of bugs out and whatnot. So I tell my guy… my engineer, my main guy — the heavyweight champ of the studio next door — I tell him, I said, 'Just program some drums, man. Give me some drums, give me a different drum beat every day — upbeat, downbeat, whatever. Give me something,'" the vocalist said.
"So I'll walk in, there's a drumbeat, and I'll just pick up any instrument and just go right off the cuff. And it is some of the worst music you can imagine. I don't know man, I'm this close, man — I'm this close. I'm feeling something. We'll see what it is. I've got a couple of options. I just don't know, man. If it's gonna be metal, I wanna do it old school, man. I've been kind of feeling more Halford lately man, vocal-wise, just singing, using my range again. So, we'll see. It's gotta be right."
Watch the full conversation below.
Anselmo's last album was 2018's Choosing Mental Illness As a Virtue, but since then, he's toured across the U.S. with his band The Illegals. As for what's to come later this year, the vocalist has some shows with Down planned, starting with an appearance at the Welcome to Rockville festival in May. See the rest of the dates here.