Former PANTERA frontman Philip Anselmo appears to be once again warming up to the idea of one day releasing his autobiography. Anselmo and BloodyDisgusting.com writer Corey Mitchell in 2013 secured a deal with Jeremie Ruby-Strauss, senior editor at Simon & Schuster's Gallery Books imprint, for Anselmo's memoir, which was supposed to be titled "Mouth For War: Pantera, Pain, & Pride - Heavy Metal Highs, Drugged Out Lows, & The Battle For My Life". Corey was slated to co-author the book, which was described at the time as "a no-holds-barred look inside of Philip's brain, his history with PANTERA, the loss of his best-friend, Dimebag Darrell, and an unflinching examination into the downward spiral of pain and drug addiction that nearly cost him his life." More than two years after Anselmo's book deal was first announced, the singer said that he no longer wanted to do publish his autobiography, explaining at the time that he felt writing a book would be like "going backwards constantly." In a recent interview with PureGrainAudio's "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz", the podcast hosted by New York-based writer and editor Darren Paltrowitz, Anselmo stated about the prospect of one day releasing a book: "That's already on the table. I guess when it was first introduced to me, the opportunity to write a book, I thought about it for a little while, and then I thought to myself, I am maybe a little bit too young for this. But that was a few years ago. I am 51 years old now. I feel like the story is still being unraveled, man — and it is; the more we live, the more the story grows, I'm guessing. And it just feel like right now, there's so many irons in the fire, there's so many different and cool projects that I'm a part of and working with that the story is still being told. "Look, man, if I get to be 60 or 61, maybe — maybe, man — I might do it," he said. "But other than that, man — I don't know. I like my private life. I like my downtime. But I guess if it's an interesting story, or an interesting enough story, I can start with my life and stuff like that in a book somewhere. But then I'm gonna eventually run into too many good stories to where — gosh — maybe I should just write a series of ridiculous books, short books, or write novelettes or short stories, like H.P. Lovecraft or some shit like that [laughs], except without the Cthulhus and freakin' Dagons and stuff." A few years ago, Anselmo took issue with the way his former PANTERA bandmate Rex Brown described his time in the band, telling MetalSucks: "Honestly, [Rex's] assessment of me [in the book] — I don't care. Egotistical, self-centered, everything is always about me. Y'know what? I'm a lead singer and he's a bass player. That's his perception. So I'm fine with it. I don't hold any fucking grudges. But I think he did take some angry swipes and I don't need to be specific. There is a great deal of mythology when it comes to his 'quitting' DOWN. That particular chapter is a little disturbing." Anselmo also commented on the fact that former PANTERA drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott was at times painted in a very negative light in Rex's book. "I'm not sure that type of beating [on Vince] was necessary," Anselmo said. "Vince is a difficult guy and was always a different type of guy. But did he deserve that type of beating? I don't think so. When I do my book, I want it to be known that it's not just a PANTERA book. And I'm not in a pissing contest with Rex. It's a shame." He continued: "Rex has many faults, just like anyone else. But it sure seems like he wants to put fault on other people to take away from his humanity. We're all full of faults. Maybe it's easier for some of us to admit." Brown defended his comments about Vinnie Paul during a 2013 interview with the "Energize With Lonn Friend" podcast. After revealing that he sent his book to Anselmo and Vinnie Paul, the bassist said: "Apparently, Vinnie isn't very flattered by it. Vinnie, then, he can write his own fucking book, you know. With Philip, I haven't heard any rebuttals, but I didn't say anything in the book that wasn't already out there, you know what I'm saying?!" He added: "I think the reason they haven't talked to me is 'cause it is the fucking truth. And sometimes you don't wanna tell the truth. And I didn't go out of my way to maliciously hurt any individual. But at the same time, if you're gonna tell the truth, by God, you'd better be on the skinny. And I think Mark Eglinton [Rex's co-author], that did this thing with me, he really just kind of…. He put me down… You know how you have your dreams that you had in high school when you're just… you're in your underwear. That's the way I felt with this book. If [you're] not [being completely truthful in your memoir], I think it's all a bunch of charade… And why would you wanna do that?"
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