Music For A Ritual Killing

Phil Anselmo might just be the heaviest person on earth; that is, in regards to heavy metal music. Spanning a career that began in the 80’s with heavy metal pioneers Pantera, Anselmo has led a lifestyle vindictive of the “heavy-metal” stereotype – including excessive binge drinking and several heroin overdoses. But most notably, Anselmo has been known as a man with an uncompromising, brutal outlook on life in general, something that easily seeps through in his music. So what’s Anselmo to do after creating over a decade of brutal heavy metal music? Create a band that’s even heavier; with a small dose of musical legend notoriety with Hank Williams III pounding it out on bass. Enter Superjoint Ritual, whose album A Lethal Dose of American Hatred attempts to tip the scales even further.Superjoint Ritual’s music encompasses many of the same qualities of a lawn mower – it’s very fast, heavy and emits a sound that most people would find a bit irritating. But from the opening chords of “Sickness” one thing is for certain, Anselmo has no intentions of slowing down. Every song on A Lethal Dose.. includes non-stop pounding drums, brutal, cathartic screams and driving, extremely fast guitar work, as if punk rock somehow mutated into a jackhammer. Anselmo and the rest of Superjoint Ritual not only tip the scales of heavy music, they’ve thrown the scale against the wall in an angry rage.