PHILIP ANSELMO On New PANTERA Album: 'It Ain't Gonna Happen'

SUPERJOINT RITUAL frontman Philip Anselmo was recently asked by Jim Beal Jr. of San Antonio Express-News if there will ever be another PANTERA album. "It ain't gonna happen," Anselmo said. "Me, personally, I left that door wide open. The brothers [Vinnie Paul and Diamond/Dimebag Darrell] closed that door. I'm not even mad at them. I wish them the best."

When asked what went wrong in the metal world that caused him to focus all his time and effort on SUPERJOINT RITUAL — arguably the most extreme of his high-profile projects — Anselmo said, "As far as I'm concerned PANTERA was extremely influential in heavy metal. Then white kids started rapping over the top of the music. The true rappers ought to be offended as well as the heavy-metal bands. Every genre ought to have its purity. There's nothing to what the bands today are doing. They're PANTERA ripoffs with the cheesiest song progressions.

"Bands in the past had some style. Bands today are instrumentally sub-par and sub-par in their ideas," he added. "I can hardly listen to them. SUPERJOINT is an extreme band, which makes it a new style. You have to set new goals or blow your brains out. Today's a new day. Today's a new show. I gotta prove myself today."

While in some respects, SUPERJOINT RITUAL is a heavy-music supergroup as guitarist Jimmy Bower has worked with EYEHATEGOD and DOWN, drummer Joe Fazzio with DEMONSEEDS and STRESSBALL and Hank III as the leader of his own band, Anselmo says that in another respect, "It's just me. I'm the man who's always made the most bread. It's 100 percent my lyrics and at least 75 percent my music. I'm the guy with the gold and platinum records on the wall. Hank has his audience but, for the most part, he goes with the flow. He's been a fan of SUPERJOINT for so long." Read more.