UMUR "Scion A/V Presents: Housecore Horror Film Festival 2013 EP" is a 2 track, 9:58 minutes long EP release by US extreme metal act Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals. The EP was released in October 2013 through Housecore Records in 10" vinyl format and digitally (for free download) by Scion A/V Metal. "Scion A/V Presents: Housecore Horror Film Festival 2013 EP" was released to celebrate/promote "The first annual Housecore Horror Film Festival", which was held from the 24th - 27th of October 2013. A festival co-founded by lead vocalist Phil Anselmo.

The two tracks on the EP continue the aggressive, noisy and adventurous extreme metal style that the band also played on their July 2013 debut full-length studio album "Walk Through Exits Only". Aggressive shouting vocals, raw riffing, tempo changes and a blatant disregard of vers/chorus structures. On paper it sounds great and fortunately that´s also the case when actually listening to the music. I don´t think the quality of the two tracks are as high as the tracks on "Walk Through Exits Only", and to my ears they could have been outtakes from that album, but especially "Pigs Kissing Pigs" is quite a great track. The sound production is rather noisy and distorted, which really provide the music with an extreme sound. Upon conclusion this is a good quality EP, that´s well worth your time if you liked the debut album. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Walk Through Exits Only" is the debut full-length studio album by US extreme metal act Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals. The album was released through Housecore Records/Season of Mist in July 2013. I´m not completely sure if this is to be perceived as a solo release by Philip H. Anselmo featuring a backing band or if Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals are a band rather than a solo project. Anselmo are of course quite the prolific gentleman having been a member of/having participated in projects/bands like Pantera, Superjoint Ritual, Down and Necrophagia.

"Walk Through Exits Only" doesn´t really sound like any of his other projects even though Anselmo is as always instantly recognisable because of his distinct voice and singing style. The music style on the album is actually a bit hard to pin down, as there are influences from many styles put into the melting pot. Out comes a really aggressive and powerful extreme metal style, that both grooves, kicks heads in with sharp heavy riffing and generally entertains as a result of it´s diversity. The band have found room for slight experimental parts in the music too which is something that ensures that you are kept on your toes at all times. That´s especially true for the nearly 12 minutes long closing track "Irrelevant Walls and Computer Screens", but other tracks feature experiemental parts too.

The band are very well playing and the material is delivered with fierce passion and conviction. Anselmo is the focal point here though and he really shines. He is such a powerful, raw and diverse vocalist. Most of his vocals on this album are in the more extreme end of his arsenal, but as he has shown in the past, he also masters clean type vocals. "Walk Through Exits Only" is devoid of clean vocals though.

The sound production is raw and powerful and upon conclusion "Walk Through Exits Only" is a pretty strong release. It doesn´t exactly reach the heights of the best material by his more prolific projects but it´s well worth a listen if you´re a fan of Anselmo´s vocal style. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

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Phil Anselmo is arguably best known for his work with groove metal inventors Pantera and for having been involved in numerous bands and projects after Pantera split up, most famously the sludge bands Superjoint Ritual and Down.

The present split with Warbeast is, as far as I know - I could be wrong - his first release under his own name, and his two tracks on the release are a far cry from both Pantera and his sludge bands. The first track 'Conflict (Nerve Meets Bone)' is a brutal thrasher which features some extremely angry vocals from Anselmo, while his second track 'Family, "Friends", and Accosiates" opens out with a couple of dissonant passages with screamed vocals on top, before morphing into more of a death-thrash affair. As if that is not enough, the track also features some hardcore elements and a quite groove breakdown (the guitar solos are all out rocking!).

While the two Warbeast tracks are more straight up thrashy, Anselmo's two tracks are definitely harder to pinpoint. But one thing is fore sure: they sound fucking angry!

Fans of Anselmo will definitely be interested in this split, but should be warned that the music sounds nothing at all like Pantera, Superjoint Ritual, or Down. But if you are interested in exploring a new side of Phil Anselmo's creative mind, then by all means check out this split.