by Jason D. Taylor

Philip Anselmo has amassed himself legions of die-hard fans due to the immense popularity of the heavy metal band Pantera, and has taken the liberty to extend his vocal skills in many different directions throughout the years. With his work with Down, some fans feared that Anselmo had somehow gone soft and had run out of the hate he once thrived on, yet Superjoint Ritual's long-awaited debut should assure any doubters that the legendary Pantera frontman is still overflowing with enough attitude and anger to energize a small nation. Use Once and Destroy is the audio equivalent to having one's face reduced to pulp by a cement block, never allowing the listener to fully gain their composure with some of the most intense heavy thrash metal to be released in 2002. What comes as an unexpected and somewhat humorous surprise is that Anselmo is accompanied by none other than Hank Williams III on bass duty, yet don't expect anything remotely related to country music here. Superjoint Ritual has a heightened sense of brutality that not even Pantera has quite yet reached, pummeling one's ears with relentless blasts of pure molten metal menace. The album relies on rapid-fire bursts of lightning-quick metal for the most part, as many of the album's 18 tracks are under three minutes in length, yet this works fine, allowing Anselmo to mutilate one's skin with his venomous screams. Anyone who even imagined Philip Anselmo had lost a shred of intensity deserves to be taught a lesson by listening to Use Once and Destroy at the maximum volume possible. This is an outstanding metal release that is exceptionally furious.