Article By: Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker ‡ Edited By: Leanne Ridgeway
Phil Anselmo, actor Edwin Neal (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Future Kill), and Wayne Abney (Hammer Witch) will fill-in for Warbeast vocalist Bruce Corbitt (also of Rigor Mortis) at their farewell show.
Bruce was recently diagnosed with esophageal cancer and is somewhat being “forced” into an early retirement at this time to focus on his health. Corbitt, himself, recently played his final show with the group, due to his ongoing treatments.
This final gig will take place at The Rail Club in Ft. Worth, TX on July 14th. Corbitt said of it:
“For our FINAL Warbeast Show ever… we are ecstatic that our lifelong friend, brother, label owner and producer Philip Anselmo will be singing the bulk of the Warbeast songs that night. It was a no-brainer when it came to who I wanted to be on that stage with my bandmates in my place that night during our final set ever.
Since I can’t do it… I still wanted this band to have the best possible ending. Luckily he’s happily agreed to come to Texas and send this band out with a bang.
It was Philip that gave this band life… and it will be a treat for our fans to witness a true metal legend sing both old and brand new Warbeast songs. This is what I call an appropriate perfect ending for this band… considering the unfortunate circumstances we’ve been dealt. I love you like a brother Philip!!!
Also, Warbeast plans to première our new music video for our song “Hitchhiker” that night. The song is obviously based on Edwin Neal’s character from Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Ed will also be appearing in this new music video, too. Much to my surprise… Ed told me that wanted to sing this song about his alter-ego for me that night. That is just too damn cool… so I obviously said, “HELL YES!!”
Even Philip thought this was like coming full-circle for me… pointing out how Rigor Mortis and our crew was kind of like our own TCM family back in the 80s. We were even promoted by Capitol Records as the Texas Chain Saw Massacre of Metal. Now here we are 30 years later and Ed is going to be singing with one of my bands. I’m freaking out on this too!
It also made perfect sense for us to include the man that is the reason Warbeast even exists in the first place. 11 years ago we put together Texas Metal Alliance to help Wayne after his near-fatal motorcycle accident. The band eventually evolved into Warbeast… and the rest is history. So we wanted Wayne to be part of this… and he’s going to sing a classic old Warbeast song and also a one of the new ones. His new killer band Life Of Scars is also playing that night as well. Thanks Wayne for everything brother!!
Another cool thing is that everyone attending this show will be able to buy our new Warbeast album “Enter The Arena” three weeks before it’s released everywhere else!! The actual street release date is early August… so if you want it early… you need to be at this show!!
Finally… many of my close friends involved in putting all of this together have insisted that this show will also be a benefit show to help me and my Wife Jeanna Corbitt. Our gratefulness for this gracious gesture can’t be put into words. We are again shocked at the love and support we are receiving during this hard time in our lives. We’ve been told that the $10 admission will all go towards our medical bills in my fight to beat cancer. UNBELIEVABLE!!
So all of that right there will make this one of the biggest nights of the year for our D/FW Metal Family!”
As Bruce shared above, Warbeast will be celebrating the upcoming release of their new album ‘Enter The Arena‘ at the show. That effort was produced by Anselmo, with the band having been signed to Anselmo‘s own Housecore Records label for a number of years.
If you would like to donate to help with Bruce’s medical expenses and such, please do so via the crowdfunding campaign at FundRazr.
