Pantera
Formed: 1981
Location: Arlington, Texas, USA
Genre: Metal, Groove Metal
Years Active: 1981 - 2003
Meaning of the Name: Panther
Core Members: Phil Anselmo, Vinnie Paul, Dimebag Darrell, Rex Brown
Way of Working: Collaborative
Associated: Damageplan
Essential Releases
Cowboys From
Hell (1990)
Radical departure from earlier 'glam' efforts. Groove metal.
Vulgar Display
of Power (1992)
Bruising album of pounding ferocity.
Far Beyond
Driven (1994)
The heaviest album to top the US charts.
The Great Southern
Trendkill (1996)
Darker, more brutal album with influences from sludge metal.
On December 8th 2004, one of the greatest guitarists in metal was shot while performing live with Damageplan. His brother, the band's drummer, Vinnie Paul, was sitting only a few feet away when it happened. It was already too late by the time he jolted upright from his kit. He couldn't save his younger sibling, bandmate and best friend, Dimebag Darrell, who was already dead, his blood staining the stage a grotesque crimson red.
Dimebag and Vinnie (the Abbott brothers) started Damageplan a year earlier after their previous band, Pantera, ended in acrimony. Despite topping the US album charts with the ultra-heavy Far Beyond Driven (1994), the heroin habit of vocalist Phil Anselmo contributed greatly to the brothers decision to walk away. Pantera would never have played under such lax security arrangements, but Damageplan were in Ohio that fateful night.
To make matters worse, Anselmo told Metal Hammer that Dimebag "deserves to be beaten severely" in an interview published only weeks before the shooting. The December 2004 issue hit newsagents in late November.
"He would attack me, vocally. And just knowing that he was so much smaller than me I could kill him like a f*cking piece of vapour, you know, he would turn into vapour, his chin would, at least, if I f*cking smacked it. And he knows that. The world should know that. So physically, of course, he deserves to be beaten severely.
But of course, that's criminal and I won't do such a thing. Really, I just let him prattle on. I grew very tired of it very quickly, and whenever it came up, like it has come up today, I just chose to wish them the best of luck."
Yet, in the hearts and minds of many dedicated fans, the legacy of Pantera lives on. In addition to their significant commercial success, they played a key role in pivoting metal away from the breakneck velocity of thrash. Cowboys From Hell (1990) was an early release in the more percussive groove metal that reshaped the ferocious sound for a new generation.
Groove metal is slower than thrash, with a greater emphasis on rhythm and syncopation and less melody. Pantera combined this new approach with the swagger and blues influence of Southern rock bands like ZZ Top, especially in their guitars, to forge their own, hyper-masculine take on the burgeoning sub-genre. Their seismic influence even impacted juggernauts such as Metallica, whose Load (1996) and ReLoad (1997) albums were noticeably slower than previous releases.
The golden age of thrash in the mid-'80s was replaced by grunge as the dominant form of alternative music in the '90s. Groove metal, led by bands such as Pantera and Prong, arose to face this new economic reality, downtuning their guitars and using vocals to create a crushing rhythm section that felt more cynical and jaded. The '80s was a decade of decadence and increasing wealth for a lucky few, which was reflected in the mass appeal, outwardly directed aggression of the era's metal. For instance, the lyrics of the contrarian 'Peace Sells' (1986), by Megadeth, state:
"What do you mean I "couldn't be the president of the United States of America?" Tell me something, it's still "we the people," right?"
Whereas in the '90s, hostility in metal became internalised. A trend that can be seen in Pantera's song titles such as 'I'm Broken' (1994) and 'Suicide Note' (1996).As a seminal force in metal it's a tragedy that Pantera were torn asunder by personal animosities and the actions of a violent murderer. The paranoid schizophrenic who killed Dimebag, Nathan Gale, told people Pantera were his favourite band, but on that cruel December night he destroyed them forever. We'll never know if he was influenced by the Metal Hammer interview, as he was killed by a police officer at the scene of the crime.
Even though Pantera's 2003 split was bitter, the band could have reconciled given time. When Gale slaughtered four innocent people on that fateful night he not only put to bed any chance of a real Pantera reunion, he also destroyed the hopes of millions of fans who never got to see them play live.
Skills
*This is a work in progress. Values are subjective.Emotional Impact
90
Mental Impact
35
Originality
90
Artistry
80
Authenticity
70
Live
95
Production
70
Musicianship
90
Screaming
85
Songwriting
90
Danceability
70
Fun
60
Consistency
65
Range
70
Cool
30
Charisma
65
Commercial & Critical Success
Awards
Certifications >>>
- Cowboys From Hell - Platinum in the USA; Gold in the UK, Australia & Japan
- Vulgar Display of Power - Platinum in the USA & Australia; Gold in the UK, Canada & Japan
- Far Beyond Driven - Platinum in the USA, Australia & Canada; Gold in the UK & Japan
- The Great Southern Trendkill - Platinum in the USA; Gold in Australia; Silver in the UK
- Reinventing the Steel - Gold in the USA
Charts >>>
- Far Beyond Driven - 1st in the USA, Australia, 3rd in the UK
- The Great Southern Trendkill - 2nd in Australia; 4th in the USA
- Reinventing the Steel - 2nd in Australia; 4th in the USA
Critics >>>
- Guitar World: Cowboys From Hell - World's Greatest Guitar Albums of All Time: 11th
- Loudwire: Vulgar Display of Power - Top 11 Metal Albums of the 1990s: 1st
- Rock Hard: Vulgar Display of Power - 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time: 333rd
- Rolling Stone: Vulgar Display of Power - The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time: 10th
