The sophomore studio effort from the ultra-prolific extreme metal veteran and mastermind behind Pantera and Down, among other projects, Choosing Mental Illness as a Virtue delivers caustic tsunamis of atonal riffing, fractured blastbeats, and freakish instrumentation, all of which serve as a vehicle for Anselmo's unsettling lyrics and larynx-shredding howl. As was the case with 2013's Walk Through Exits Only, Anselmo is joined by frequent collaborators Jos Manuel "Blue" Gonzalez (drums), Stephen "Schteve" Taylor (guitar), and Walter Howard (bass), with newcomer Mike DeLeon taking over for departing guitarist Marzi Montazeri, all of whom contribute to the sonic beatdown with extreme prejudice. In flinging bits of grindcore, death metal, punk, thrash, and avant-garde against the proverbial extreme metal wall, the Illegals have crafted another divisive collection of aural hate mail that will please longtime Anselmo enthusiasts, and induce apoplexy in his detractors. ~ James Christopher Monger
