Bill and Phil: Songs of Darkness and Despair

Here's the deal: Phil Anselmo had a chance to work with horror icon Bill Moseley, best known for his role as Chop Top in Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 and Otis in a couple of Rob Zombie films. Moseley wrote the lyrics (and even sings a little bit!) and Anselmo, alongside guest musicians such as Kevin Bond, Squizzy Squires, and Jose "Blue" Gonzalez on percussion.

As I understand it, the music here was largely improvised to match the mood and feel of the lyrics. The strength of that approach is that listeners get to hear what Moseley wrote, much of which is either strange, funny, or a mixture of both.

Given Phil Anselmo's interest in horror and metal (and their intersections) it makes sense that a release like this would be in the offing. Although I was excited to hear this release, I like it more as an idea than a finished product. It won't do to overthink it, though. This release is kind of what you'd expect from a collaboration based on a mutual love for certain kinds of horror films and moods. Much of the backing music is pretty good but nothing stands out as essential. The lyrics are interesting and playful and weird but they sometimes convey a humor that I either didn't understand or that simply didn't work. It's steeped in backwoods horror attitudes and moods. Overall, it's just uneven. Check out "Bad Donut" or "Dirty Eye" or "Catastrophic" and decide where you'll take it from there.

Track Listing:
1. Dirty Eye
2. Corpus Crispy
3. Catastrophic
4. Widder Woman
5. Tonight's the Night We Die
6. Bad Donut

Added: January 23rd 2017
Reviewer: Carl Sederholm
Score:
Related Link: Band Label Page
Hits: 1509
Language: english

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