Phil Anselmo is 55 years old now

Yesterday, I sat down in my sofa and watched some clips of Corey Taylor of Slipknot roar like a crazy lion back in 2000-2003. You know, doing cool metal growls. The accepted fact about Corey Taylor's old screams is that "you can't scream like that forever because it will damage your voice". And that's why he screams in another way today, I guess. I've always understood and accepted that. Like, good for you Corey! Treat your voice well so you can keep your voice and scream and sing for us for longer! But then I watched some clips of Pantera playing live in 2023, with Phil Anselmo on vocals, and started to reevaluate things. Phil is 55 years old, and has throughout his career sung in falsetto, guttural screams, growls and with clean vocals. He has been the best metal vocalist and he has kind of been the worst, in some ways. His speaking voice has been in 8 different octaves, from normal deep Louisiana voice to underground swamp monster growlings, his screams/growls have gone from the best in the world to almost defunct and then back again, and his singing has been like... it has been the way it is that specific day. You never really know. But one thing Phil Anselmo has never EVER done, is going on stage and using a "safe" vocal technique in order to preserve something. Whether it be his vocal cords, his lungs, his dignity or whatever. And that is what means anything in my book. Who are you saving your voice for if you aren't willing to lose it for your audience anyway? Is it really worth it to do the second coolest thing you can do, in order to do it for a longer time in a more stable way?

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