THE BEAST

During an interview with Fantasm, Pantera singer Phil Anselmo shared an update on his health after undergoing back surgery in early 2018.

As reported, Phil underwent a string of corrective procedures to help him deal with the damage to his back, neck, and knees sustained over three decades of touring.

Note that the interview was conducted last fall but only recently uploaded to YouTube. The singer said:

“This has been – and I’m gonna say this in all honesty – since about the age of 24, I think, this year, 2018, has been my favorite year I’ve ever lived, the best year I’ve ever lived.

“I’ve had my second back surgery. I am fucking rid of the medical pill mill fucking industry. I am fucking clean as a whistle. I haven’t had a drink in almost three years. I’m 50 and I feel better than I did at 30 and 40. I can hit 12 rounds on the fucking bag and a kayak up and down the river.

“And that’s shit I would have never dreamed. Besides hitting the bag, kayaking – there’s no way I could have been in that sitting position. I’ve got that shit under wraps. I’m feeling great.”

Phil explained that his former condition influenced the sound and the lyrical themes on his recent albums, including The Illegals’ “Choosing Mental Illness as a Virtue.” He said:

“Well, I was in a tremendously different place [when I wrote ‘Choosing Mental Illness as a Virtue’]. When I listen to [the upcoming En Minor album] and I think about the place I have been, which is absolutely a 30-year chronic pain sentence that came with every type of addiction in the world.

“And, man, the opiate creates such a falseness and such a failure of… It creates wrecked motivation – lack of motivation. I mean, wrecked, though. You are distraught, and it’s for no damn good reason. There are alternatives out there that fucking work and work better. I suggest people look into it.” Via MetalWani