Legendary PANTERA, SUPERJOINT RITUAL and DOWN vocalist Philip Anselmo and Housecore Records thrashers WARBEAST recently announced that they will release a new split album entitled "War Of The Gargantuas". The split now has an official release date of January 8, 2013 and will include two songs from each artist. This album serves as the first release of any solo work by Anselmo during the span of his nearly 30-year legacy. Also, the two WARBEAST tracks on the split feature former bassist Alan Bovee before his amicable departure from the band. Since then, Dre Karst has joined on bass.

"This split is a glimpse into the future of both my solo project and ultimate thrash metallers WARBEAST," says Anselmo.

"The title of the split is 'War Of The Gargantuas' and it is fitting on many levels because of our combined love for the '60s Japanese film of the same name, the power of our combined musical output(s) and our humorous affection that plays out within each of our 'Gargantuan' personalities.

"Both WARBEAST and myself have full-length LPs that will be released shortly after this is released, but this split is unique musically. It is a time capsule; a loud pause 'til we both release our full-length products. Enjoy the destruction of music!"

"These two songs we have on 'War Of The Gargantuas' were the next level after 'Krush The Enemy'," states WARBEAST guitarist Scott Shelby. "They've been a staple in our set list for the last two years. These songs are a pure demonstration of our unique Texas thrash metal style."

WARBEAST also recently announced the upcoming release of its second full-length album, "Destroy". The CD is due in early 2013 via Housecore Records and is currently in the mastering stages.

PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS is:

Philip H. Anselmo (DOWN, PANTERA) - Vocals
Marzi Montazeri (ex-SUPERJOINT RITUAL) - Guitar
Bennett Bartley - Bass
José Manuel Gonzales (WARBEAST) - Drums

In a recent interview with U.K.'s Terrorizer magazine, Anselmo spoke about his forthcoming full-length solo debut, "Walk Through Exits Only", which will be released in early 2013 via Housecore.

Asked what prompted him to make a solo CD now, Anselmo said, "I am a lover of all sorts of music but really my heart is ... really I love extreme music, underground music, whether it be grindcore, death metal, thrash, black metal, [or whatever other] subgenre, and I find beauty in a lot of this stuff."

He continued, "I wanted to do an extreme record that didn't necessarily fit in any of those aforementioned categories, really, but it's metal. It's very tough for me to describe, man. I really wanted to do an extreme record again. I did it out of pure, fucking need — need — and love. I just needed to do it for myself."

Anselmo said that he chose to release the CD under his own name because "if I was to name it something, to me, it may be tough on the fans, or people, that might be interested in hearing what I'm doing, just to buy into a whole new band, where in all truth, I'm very, very, what's the word, just very guarded and I wrote every fucking goddamn note of it and that's just how its going to fucking be.

He added, "I don't want another all-star band, I don 't want another supergroup, if you will, I don't want it to be misconstrued, and this is something I can take as a solo artist, as a free agent, I can take this wherever I want to go. If I want to make the next record a completely different style, yet still extreme in its own right, I can do that … So it's gonna be up to y'all to figure it out: it's really not my place to say it's death metal or it's extreme thrash or black metal, I'm not gonna put it in a category. It is extreme, though, in its own right. Anything that was completely traditional, I would stop it and fuck with it a little, make sure it wasn't so paint-by-numbers, because that's the last thing I wanna do, and as a matter of fact, I believe that's what people will be expecting."

On the topic of his lyrical approach on "Walk Through Exits Only", Anselmo said, "[It's] very real, very honest, very close to the sleeve, close to the heart, close to the fingertips, close to everyday life, and maybe [about] periods of my life that I've gone through. People that have heard the record have said it is the angriest record that they've heard in a very, very long time. And I have to agree with them — it is an angry, angry album. It is just a statement of my condition a lotta times. Daily I still deal with heaps of chronic pain, if you will, whether it be my knee, my hip, the shoulder sockets, the elbow, the fucking back — you name it, man. I've busted everything, man, so there is a frustration there that you can't necessarily get across in DOWN, so it does have an angry edge to it and really, truth be told, the name of the record could be 'Songs From The Bedroom Of Philip Anselmo'; it's not a pretty place. [laughs] [It's] not as sexy as it sounds'l [It's a] fucking, raging fucking place where I can simmer and boil over in private."

Asked what expectations he has for the solo record, Anselmo said, "Me being the pessimist, some people will love it, some people will hate it. Will I break new ground? I don't know. I really don't have any fucking idea. Music is vast, people's opinions are vast and boy can you read them on the comments section today.

He continued, "If you enjoyed stuff in the past, then I think you 'll really enjoy the fucking solo record and people who still to this day [say], 'Ah I wish Phil would sing more. He's got such a pretty voice when he sings' then its gonna be a gigantic fucking letdown. [laughs] I cannot wait, truthfully, for the likes of yourself and fans alike to consume
this shit. Love it or hate it, it's coming."