Pass/Fail: Philip H. Anselmo / Warbeast

On the 4-song EP War of the Gargantuas, Phil Anselmo and Warbeast each offer up two new songs.  And if you were beginning to think that maybe Anselmo was starting to mellow out with age, then you were dead wrong.

"Conflict," Anselmo's first track, is massively heavy and angry.  Don't expect anything like what you heard on the most recent Down EP.  (I like The Purple EP, but this is quite a different animal.)  Next comes Warbeast's "Birth of a Psycho."  It gets off to a fast start and doesn't really let up, seeming to get better and more convincing as it continues on.  Anselmo's "Family, Friends, and Associates" follows, and while it is slightly less intense than "Conflict," it's still pretty extreme.  Listen for some pretty good guitar work around the 2-minute mark.  Warbeast finishes things up with "It," the stronger of the band's two songs and probably the third best track on the EP.

This split EP was a good idea from a marketing standpoint.  It generates interest in the forthcoming Phil Anselmo solo album, and it also introduces Anselmo/Down/Pantera fans to Warbeast.  Now we have two albums to look forward to in the hopefully near future.

Grade: Pass