For those who have never heard of the band Superjoint Ritual, there is much to be learned. Superjoint Ritual, formed primarily by former Pantera frontman Phil Anselmo and EYEHATEGOD/Corrosion of Conformity/Down drummer Jimmy Bower, have taken the metal and hardcore underground by storm. Although Anselmo is still Superjoint Ritual’s frontman when they take the stage, he and Bower perform most of the guitar duties on the albums. The band is rounded out by “stunt” guitarist Kevin Bond, drummer Joe Fazzio and country legend Hank Williams Sr.’s grandson, Hank III, on bass. When Superjoint Ritual takes the stage, the atmosphere is reminiscent of old school punk, hardcore, and metal shows complete with circle pits and stage diving. After two phenomenal albums, Use Once And Destroy, and the smashing A Lethal Dose Of American Hatred, Superjoint Ritual has stormed the nation with a grueling two-year American tour. Metal Update spoke at Ozzfest with a very tired (possibly sedated) Jimmy Bower about Superjoint’s Ozzfest trek, their songwriting, work ethic, and the formation of Superjoint Ritual amidst so many other side projects.

Interview with Jimmy Bower on 8/14/04.

METAL UPDATE: Another Ozzfest, another one of Phil Anselmo’s bands on the bill. Pantera has been on the bill twice, Down in 2002, and now Superjoint Ritual.

JIMMY BOWER: We’re excited, man. We’re freakin’ out.

MU: You guys should be excited, it’s an awesome bill.

JB: Superjoint’s been touring for 1 1/2 or 2 years straight. We’re fuckin’...we’ve just been keeping up that busy, strict regiment and it’s starting to pay off man, you know? We really worked hard. Hopefully things will work out for the best.

MU: I think Superjoint’s drive is unparalleled. I mean, honestly, it’s got to be tough touring that much, considering with this type of music you don’t make much money.

JB: It’s not really about the money, it’s about being accepted for who you are and for what you’re doing, and stuff like that. That’s what’s important, and that you only get from playing live and feeling it from the people. That’s the only way. I think this next record we write is the most important record of our career.

MU: Definitely, it definitely is.

JB: I think it’s gonna be downright brutal, mixed with some melodic shit. It’s just gonna be a really good record.

MU: What surprised me with A Lethal Dose Of American Hatred was that you sort of upped the ante on the guitars, as compared to Use Once And Destroy. Was it you or Phil as the main songwriter?

JB: Me, Phil, Joe. Everyone gets their input, but Phil writes 70-80% of the music. We all contribute our parts though.

MU: So Phil isn’t the sole songwriter?

JB: Vocally, he is.

MU: You can tell they are Phil’s lyrics.

JB: Pretty much, I’ll come to Phil with a part. Phil will take my part, add a bridge on it, and show me where it’s gonna go in the song. He’s a visionary. He’s got the vision because he’s on vocals, so it’s a really cool process man, and to work with Philip is really, really, really cool, man. He’s like one of the best arrangers I’ve ever worked with in my life. He knows where parts go, and he knows when they should come about to get the full impact of the part. It seems obvious it would take a singer to come up with that. Don’t get me wrong though, Phil’s one hell of a guitar player, man. We actually auditioned people to sing for this band.

MU: You did?

JB: Yeah, Phil was going to play guitar [live].


MU: Superjoint stakes its claim in having a lot of old school influences, as far as music goes. In the past, you guys have listed Black Flag, Bad Brains...

JB: Righteous Pigs...

MU: Right. Are there any new bands that influence Superjoint?

JB: High On Fire, bands like that. Mastodon, Darkthrone, Immortal...

MU: Burzum?

JB: Burzum, Beherit...There’s a lot of black metal, but I don’t want to say it’s all black metal. We’ve been listening to a lot of old Carnivore, a lot of old Agnostic Front. A lot of old shit, man. It’s been pumping us up to write a really good third album. It’s totally cool.

MU: I don’t have any doubt that your third album will be better than A Lethal Dose Of American Hatred.

JB: I think it’s gonna smoke Lethal Dose.

MU: Phil has the sort of personality that many people would describe as egotistic, and a confidence that could be mistaken for ego. Is he difficult to work with as a musician?

JB: No. Phil is who he is. Phil is what Phil is. If you respect Phil, and treat Phil for who he is, he’d be cool to you, man. It’s the same way with anyone, you know, it just so happens that he’s a...he’s a star, you know?

MU: He definitely has a presence.

JB: There’s a lot of misconceptions about Phil. He’s really cool, man.

MU: Has Phil’s drug problem ever been an issue in Superjoint Ritual?

JB: Maybe in the past, but that’s all, like I said, you know, in the past. For a band that has toured nonstop for the last two years, I don’t think there’s any drug problem hindering us at all. As long as...

MU: As long as shit doesn’t get too fucked up, right?

JB: Right, right. We all went through some hard times, you know. Phil went through a divorce, you know, I broke up with my girlfriend of 10 years. I had some hard times, and you do some stupid shit when you have hard times, but we’re a fucking drug-free band. We burn grass and shit, you know, we drink, we’re human beings. You have hard times, sometimes you get stupid.


MU: Back to the touring...How in the hell do you tour so much? I’m sure you have some label support, but even with that, the touring has to wear on you.

JB: We just get guarantees and we get discovered, you know? We just tour constantly and just try and promote it as much as we can, you know?

MU: As far as promotion goes, I think Superjoint Ritual and the street teams have done an excellent job promoting the albums and the tours.

JB: I think the record company could have helped us out a little more. Sanctuary didn’t know what to do with us when they got us, I’d say that was obvious.

MU: What should Superjoint fans expect from your third album?

JB: Brutal, true, underground metal, man. It’s gonna be good, dude. Ripped up, hooks, you know these songs, you’ll remember them for the rest of your lives, you know, those type songs, epic type songs.

MU: Do you have anything written for the third album?

JB: We don’t have any recording done on the new record. It doesn’t matter, man, we’re gonna go in the room and knock it out. We’re not afraid. We have riffs, man, you know, I mean we’re not blind right now, we have plenty of riffs and songs ideas, you know, but nothing set in stone.

MU: With the Pantera breakup, was it Phil’s intention...

JB: No...no Pantera questions man, if you don’t mind.

MU: That’s fine, I don’t mind.

JB: It’s a dead deal, I think it’s been discussed and answered many times.

MU: Can I ask any questions about Down?

JB: Uh, yeah, well...I mean...Down, to me,...all I’ll say about Down is it’s a timeless band and I think we could do a record 3 or 4 years from now and it wouldn’t matter, you know? I think the people would still support us and it would be good, and I’m looking forward to anything with Down. Right now, I think Superjoint’s a little bit more important, you know? It’s making more of an impact.

MU: That’s the main reason I was starting to ask about the Pantera/Down issue. It’s basically a question of “Is everyone on good terms?”

JB: I just wasn’t in Pantera, you know, but everyone in Down is on good terms.


MU: My question was going to be, “Was Phil’s initial intention to focus all of his time on Superjoint Ritual in order to quit Pantera?” It was reported that he wasn’t happy in Pantera anymore.

JB: No, he quit the band, he quit Pantera before we even did the Down record. That’s his decision, not ours. We didn’t influence him in any way. I feel fortunate that he did make the decision because we get to do what we’ve been talking about for 10 years.

MU: So what about the other side projects? Aren’t you in some other side projects with Phil as well?

JB: The only side projects Phil and I are in together are Down and Superjoint Ritual.

MU: Which side projects are Phil and Kevin in then?

JB: Christ Inversion.

MU: Are we ever going to hear anything surface concerning Christ Inversion?

JB: I’m sure it will pop up sooner or later, and it should, because it’s really good stuff.

MU: When I interviewed Satyr of Satyricon, he said that he and Phil were talking about getting something done with Eibon [another Phil Anselmo side project, featuring Killjoy of Necrophagia, Fenriz of Darkthrone, and Satyr] very soon.

JB: That would be amazing, if they came out with a record. It would be amazing.

LINKS

METAL JUDGMENT
Reviews of Superjoint Ritual on Ozzfest 2004
http://www.metaljudgment.com/concerts/ozzfest2004_frames.html

METAL JUDGMENT
Review of Superjoint Ritual at New Jersey Metal and Hardcore Festival 2003
http://www.metaljudgment.com/summary/njmhf1_frames.html

METAL JUDGMENT
Reviews of Superjoint Ritual's 2003 Tour
http://www.metaljudgment.com/summary/superjointcon_frames.html

METAL JUDGMENT
Reviews of Superjoint Ritual at New England Metal and Hardcore Festival 2003
http://www.metaljudgment.com/concerts/nemhcf2003_frames.html

METAL JUDGMENT
Reviews of Superjoint Ritual on Blackest of the Black 2003
http://www.metaljudgment.com/summary/blackest_frames.html

METAL JUDGMENT
Review of Superjoint Ritual A Lethal Dose of American Hatred
http://www.metaljudgment.com/summary/superjoint_frames.html

METAL JUDGMENT
Review of Superjoint Ritual Live in Dallas, TX 2002 DVD
http://www.metaljudgment.com/summary/superjointdvd_frames.html

METAL JUDGMENT
Reviews of Superjoint Ritual's 2002 Tour
http://www.metaljudgment.com/concerts/superjoint_frames.html

METAL JUDGMENT
Reviews of Superjoint Ritual Use Once and Destroy
http://www.metaljudgment.com/albums/superjoint_frames.html

SUPERJOINT RITUAL
http://www.superjointritual.com

SANTCUARY RECORDS
http://www.sanctuaryrecordsgroup.com

METAL UPDATE
http://www.metalupdate.com

CREDITS

Interview: Travis Loutsch [ travis@metalupdate.com ]
Editor, Webmaster & Live Photos: Laura German [ editor@metalupdate.com ]