Philip Anselmo is well known for his role in the bands Pantera and Down. Arson Anthem is his side project that aims to rejuvenate the sound of hardcore punk for a new generation. They do manage to capture all that fans of the genre expect but for his sake I hope he keeps his day job as reminiscent of that long past era, this disc is basically seventeen burst of frantic noise with not a whole lot of variation on the theme. With Mike IX Williams on vocals you get his limited range, whinny type screaming and lyrical content that ranges from the "Mine is bigger than yours" message to the "Let's see how stupid and useless people can be" theme. If this is your cup of tea, then more power to you.
Anselmo relegates himself to guitar on this disc and even though he is adequate for this simple sound you really wish that there was more to this disc than what they deliver. I would have expected much more with who is involved. Even Hank Williams III on drums seems to just be going through the motions.
If there is any moment on the disc that shows any creativity it is the very last song "Teach the Gun (To Love the Bullet)" which is a slow grind that explodes into periodic bits of mayhem. It is by far the best song on here and about the only time you can say "This is something different". Other than that, this is an album that I can safely say will be gathering dust on the shelf.
Track listing:
1. Naught
2. Foul Pride
3. Isolation Militia
4. More Than One War
5. Insecurity Notoriety
6. Pretty Like That
7. Initial Prick
8. Crippled Life
9. Polite Society Blacklist
10. If You Heard This You Would Hit Me
11. Hands Off Approach
12. Has Been/Had Been
13. Primate Envy
14. Death of An Idiot
15. Co-dependent and Busted
16. Kleptomania
17. Teach the Gun (To Love the Bullet)
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