Superjoint Ritual - Use Once and Destroy (2002)

You're gonna need a superjoint to enjoy this!

Formed as a supergroup of vocalist/bassist Phil Anselmo (Pantera/Down/etc.), guitarist Jimmy Bower (EyeHateGod/Down/Crowbar), drummer Joe Fazzio (EyeHateGod), and even the touring members of Hank Williams III (Solo/Assjack) and Kevin Bond (Christ Inversion/Southern Isolation), hopes were set relatively high and subsequently lowered upon the release of this album.

What the hell is this? It's like if you took some heavier Pantera moments, put them on a loop, and everything of musical worth gets lost in the unforgiving sea of musical monotony, until you get to the latter half and realize "Holy shit, Phil's vocals seem more brutal on some of these songs!" and then it's another sea of musical monotony once that wears off.

The track "Drug Your Love" is actually good but REALLY questionable lyrically, but even more than that, it serves as a point in time where Phil Anselmo used, no, not just used, but SCREAMED the lyrics "Identified by the scars about the cock, balls, and ass"! Suddenly Pantera's worst-written songs don't seem that bad lyrically anymore! IDENTIFIED BY THE SCARS ABOUT THE COCK, BALLS, AND ASS!!

Given the members, this album SHOULD work on paper, but it ultimately doesn't, for what reason I don't know. Maybe it should've been condensed to the best 7-10 tracks, and then I'd remember it more fondly, but this album is just a challenge to get through.

More like "Listen to This Once and Thank God You Didn't Buy This Shit!" right? That one was too easy. How about "Listen to This and Think About "The Good Ol' Days" When You Were Generally a Happy Teenager Before You Just Now Realized There Never Really Were Any Good Ol' Days!"

I guess that one kinda hits close to home lately.

4/10
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