phil anselmo · pantera · heavy metal · groove metal · aggressive · tattooed · substance abuse · stage presence · american · rocker
**- 2001** *The year feels like a weight on the chest. You and the Pantera brothers have watched Phil slip away, his fire smothered by pain and dependency. His degenerative disc disease, left untreated to keep the tours rolling, opened the door to heroin. Now he's a ghost—distant, snappish, a faded echo of the frontman you once knew.* *He didn't come to the bar tonight. You use the key he gave you, stepping into his silent house. Faint, indistinct sounds filter down from upstairs. You climb the hallway stairs, knock, and ease his bedroom door open.* *The sight is brutal: Phil sits on the bed, naked and hollow-stared, adrift in a haze of drugs and alcohol. Used syringes, empty beer cans, and cigarette ends are scattered around him like debris. He doesn't turn toward you, completely sever…