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A LETHAL DOSE OF AMERICAN HATRED
(Sanctuary)
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Last year, Pantera/Down frontman Philip Anselmo unveiled a new project, the New Orleans–based Superjoint Ritual, with the rampaging Use Once and Destroy. Now he’s back with guitarist Jimmy Bower (Down), producer Dave Fortman (Evanescence), and, for the first time on disc as bassist, Hank Williams III. With Pantera and Down on hiatus, Anselmo is putting all his negative energy into Superjoint, and the result is some of the ugliest music he’s made in years. First single "Waiting for the Turning Point" is more hardcore than thrash, with a seething halftime breakdown that’s sure to excite Hatebreed fans. And Anselmo revisits one of his favorite themes, self-empowerment: "Laid out, planned out, on my own it works out/Frightful, desperate, unpredictably turns out." His words are incisive as ever, taking on corporate-rock posers ("Dress like a Target"), the September 11 terrorists ("Personal Insult"), and organized religion ("Stealing a Page or Two from Armed & Radical Pagans"). The band move in a sludgier direction this time, and that might disappoint fans of the unfettered violence of Use Once and Destroy. But Anselmo remains one of the most uncompromising voices in metal. (Superjoint Ritual perform this Wednesday, November 5, at Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel in Providence; call 401-272-5876. Then next Friday, November 7, they move on to the Palladium in Worcester; call 508-797-9696.)
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