Last Housecore on the Left

Philip H. Anselmo & the Illegals

If Phil Anselmo knows two things, it's metal and horror.

"When I started making a little bit of scratch with Pantera and I could afford certain tiny luxuries," he growls in that NOLA-via-DFW rumble, "all my money went to was rent, groceries, music, and films."

Today, his home houses a shrine to gore flicks. One day his friend Corey Mitchell visited to collaborate on Anselmo's upcoming autobiography.

"I showed him my collection and he was like, 'Holy fuck, why don't you do a film festival?' I know for a fact that I said, 'Sure' offhandedly, and the next thing I knew it was the real deal."

The evil seed of the Housecore Horror Film Festival was planted. Initially, the duo thought small. When they announced Housecore at SXSW 2012, it was one night, not a chilling, thrashing, three-night occupation of the Emo's/Antones complex. Mitchell ramped up the stakes by booking a metal/horror fest hybrid fed with Anselmo' label Housecore Records, plus old friends in Louisiana and Dallas. The lineup exploded.

"Once word got out, it was kind of mind blowing," chuckles Anselmo.

Aside from hosting, the singer pulls double duty with Louisiana sludge beast Down and extreme metallers Philip H. Anselmo & the Illegals. He'll be stageside for Italian prog legends Goblin.

"When that proposition came in, I jumped in the air and went, 'Do it, do it, do it now!'" he exclaims. "Their history with horror films and especially Lucio Fulci and frigging Dario Argento, it goes hand in hand."

For year one, the festival had to happen in Austin.

"Corey Mitchell was adamant about it," reveals Anselmo, though the thrash legend was easily sold. "Austin is a very unique city in itself, especially in Texas."

If its Housecore Horror is a success, there's thoughts of maybe a tour next year. Anselmo's already been approached by European promoters.

"For God's sake, let's get through year one and then we'll see."

For the full interview, see the Earache! blog at www.austinchronicle.com/blogs/music.