PHILIP ANSELMO Is 'Not Against' Reissuing PANTERA's 'Power Metal' Album

Celtic Bob of Metal-Rules.com recently conducted an interview with former PANTERA and current DOWN frontman Philip Anselmo. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Metal-Rules.com: Do you notice a trend like the mistakes that newer bands make starting out? Do they all seem to make the same mistakes and patterns?

Anselmo: I can't speak for them. I don't know, I don't read other people's contracts. I don't read or see what they are doing. I'm not privy to their personal information, but I still guarantee that there are record labels out there that are offering what I would consider "stock contracts" that are, you know, seven-album deals for X amount of dollars, which a band does not realize when a label says "we want to sign you"… This happened to PANTERA, by the way, you know, back in the day when we were signed. When a label offers you a seven-album deal, you know, at first, speaking from my experience, when I was young, I thought that was a flattering thing, when in all reality it's not, it's a jail cell. It's a jail cell of many years of your life, and a lot of money you owe the record company back. So with that, you know, for a musician and for bands and all that, and to be fair and different than the label that offered these "stock" contracts, I like to go one album at a time [with my label Housecore] and just take our time with it and offer as much freedom as possible.

Metal-Rules.com: Yep, it makes for a better product at the end of the day.

Anselmo: It also makes for a better relationship and it also makes the musician happy. Now, if I was the type of guy to stunt any musician's growth, I would be playing the bad guy, so to speak, and I'd be doing exactly the opposite of how I believe, so, ya know, once again, I think that the music world is vast enough to be explored and I'm all for explorations because I'm and explorer myself. I would advise anyone that's into music to branch out as much as possible and do not ever hold back, try everything. If it's in your heart to try something and to do something, absolutely attack with a vengeance.

Metal-Rules.com: With [PANTERA's] "Cowboys From Hell" and "Vulgar Display Of Power" having being reissued over the past little while, have you ever considered revisiting [1987's] "Power Metal" and giving it, like, a proper re-release for the fans?

Anselmo: No, I've never thought about that. As far as catalogues or re-releases and whatnot, I'm not against it. I think it's an interesting thing to bring up. Matter of fact, I think you're the first guy to ever really ask if that was going to be a re-release, so thumbs up for you. Honestly, if people got past the image and whatnot of the bar-band hair bullshit that was going on in the late '80s, you would pretty much realize that it's a pretty solid metal record all around in the vein of JUDAS PRIEST, and really, Dimebag, some of the riffs on that record are brutal, and I say to any guitar player out there, good fucking luck trying to play those riffs. Matter of fact, specifically the song "Power Metal" itself, good luck trying to play that riff with conviction and accuracy, 'cause that is a fuckin' hard riff to play.

Read the entire interview at Metal-Rules.com.