PHILIP H. ANSELMO AND THE ILLEGALS immediately rings a bell for the first part of its band name to anyone who hasn't been living in a cave for the last thirty years, after what some may call another side project of a side project, the talented and worldly known front man and songwriter has managed to release two full length albums in to the world, being this the latest, for which the name "Choosing Mental Illness as a Virtue" was selected, which seems to fit the band's leader more and more with every passing year and project.

After the turmoil lived through the final years of PANTERA and everything that came afterwards, Phillip Anselmo put this band together after other projects like DOWN and SUPERJOINT RITUAL came and went, with little to no relevance to those within its most recalcitrant followers. Whether you love him of hate him you must acknowledge that ever since his time as the singer of what once was the most famous Metal band in the world, things just have not been the same, and this is another attempt to stay relevant for the sake of it, without focusing on a proper structure or background to create a solid and memorable album. The riffs of the songs change so constantly that it is difficult to find any cohesion and groove, the elements that make a song memorable and recognizable in the first place.

But pretending not to have any prior knowledge of this artist to review this album more precisely, I find that the discourse behind Anselmo's projects has become redundant and monotonous, and the songs in this album seem like this is an overly harsh attempt from the famous front man to restate his careless and aggressive attitude and larger than life persona. A whole song can be built over one riff it is done creatively and with the intelligence but lacking a method for this mayhem, "Choosing Mental Illness as a Virtue" becomes confusing, delirious and does not allow for the sense of perception to establish a consistent opinion, a rambling and chaotic universe where it is almost impossible to thread and let alone experience any other sentiment other than the one that a baby animal would experience when thrown inside a blender at full speed. Hard to digest and experience, the best feature of this band is the attempt to create another memorable album, whether they accomplish it or not.