En Minor is a project that had been rattling around in Philip H. Anselmo“s head since he was a child; they are an unexpectedly emotional and deeply serious sound that freefalls out of the genres most of the band members are associated with, including Anselmo himself, and into uncharted territory. Unconventional and, in many ways, experimental, their 2020 release, When the Cold Truth Has Worn Its Miserable Welcome Out (Housecore Records) is steeped in reverence to the Jazz tradition in New Orleans, and maybe more markedly serves as a morose interpretation of a Jazz Funeral March with hints of Vaudeville; an unironic gothic twist on Tom Waits that Anselmo has since self-described as Depression Core.
In what is probably the biggest Who’s Who of heavy metal since Jimmy Bain, Vivian Campbell and Ronnie James Dio concocted the idea of Hear’n’Aid back during those halcyon days of hairspray and bulging spandex around 1985, Metal Allegiance continues to add name after name after name to its roster of well-respected contributors.