PANTERA

Groove Metal / Heavy Metal / Glam Metal • United States
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Pantera was an extremely popular metal band from Arlington, Texas, formed in 1981. Specifically, some fans consider them power metal, groove metal, or an amalgamation of both (so called "power groove", a term the band devised themselves). Emerging alongside influential classic thrash metal acts such as Slayer, Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax, Pantera was a key formulator of the post-thrash subgenre of heavy metal music.

At the start of the career the style of Pantera's image and sound was heavily influenced by bands like KISS & Van Halen. At certain stages, Pantera drew more on the popular LA glam scene. The extent to how far Pantera took the glam image is one of many disputes among fans of heavy metal and those who discredit the band's popularity to the 90s; however most of the material on the albums themselves were a contrast to typical glam metal formula. They released three
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PANTERA Discography

PANTERA albums / top albums

PANTERA Metal Magic album cover 1.77 | 16 ratings
Metal Magic
Glam Metal 1983
PANTERA Projects in the Jungle album cover 2.50 | 18 ratings
Projects in the Jungle
Glam Metal 1984
PANTERA I Am the Night album cover 2.75 | 17 ratings
I Am the Night
Heavy Metal 1985
PANTERA Power Metal album cover 3.19 | 27 ratings
Power Metal
Heavy Metal 1988
PANTERA Cowboys From Hell album cover 4.10 | 122 ratings
Cowboys From Hell
Groove Metal 1990
PANTERA Vulgar Display of Power album cover 3.96 | 90 ratings
Vulgar Display of Power
Groove Metal 1992
PANTERA Far Beyond Driven album cover 3.52 | 60 ratings
Far Beyond Driven
Groove Metal 1994
PANTERA The Great Southern Trendkill album cover 3.49 | 57 ratings
The Great Southern Trendkill
Groove Metal 1996
PANTERA Reinventing the Steel album cover 3.58 | 39 ratings
Reinventing the Steel
Groove Metal 2000

PANTERA EPs & splits

PANTERA Walk album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Walk
Groove Metal 1993
PANTERA Alive and Hostile album cover 5.00 | 1 ratings
Alive and Hostile
Groove Metal 1994
PANTERA Nosatsu Live album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Nosatsu Live
Groove Metal 1995
PANTERA Cemetery Gates (Demon Knight Edit) album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Cemetery Gates (Demon Knight Edit)
Groove Metal 1996
PANTERA Extreme Steel Plus album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Extreme Steel Plus
Groove Metal 2001
PANTERA The Badge album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
The Badge
Groove Metal 2014

PANTERA live albums

PANTERA Official Live: 101 Proof album cover 3.94 | 17 ratings
Official Live: 101 Proof
Groove Metal 1997

PANTERA demos, promos, fans club and other releases (no bootlegs)

PANTERA Cowboys from Hell demos album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Cowboys from Hell demos
Groove Metal 1989
PANTERA Cemetery Gates album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Cemetery Gates
Groove Metal 1990

PANTERA re-issues & compilations

PANTERA Driven Downunder Tour '94: Souvenir Collection album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Driven Downunder Tour '94: Souvenir Collection
Groove Metal 1994
PANTERA The Singles 1991-1996 album cover 3.00 | 1 ratings
The Singles 1991-1996
Groove Metal 1996
PANTERA Unofficial Hits album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Unofficial Hits
Groove Metal 1998
PANTERA The Best of Pantera: Far Beyond the Great Southern Cowboys' Vulgar Hits! album cover 4.00 | 4 ratings
The Best of Pantera: Far Beyond the Great Southern Cowboys' Vulgar Hits!
Groove Metal 2003
PANTERA Reinventing Hell: The Best of Pantera album cover 3.27 | 3 ratings
Reinventing Hell: The Best of Pantera
Groove Metal 2003
PANTERA Hellbound album cover 4.00 | 1 ratings
Hellbound
Groove Metal 2008
PANTERA 1990-2000: A Decade of Domination album cover 2.50 | 1 ratings
1990-2000: A Decade of Domination
Groove Metal 2010
PANTERA History of Hostility album cover 3.00 | 1 ratings
History of Hostility
Groove Metal 2015

PANTERA singles (7)

.. Album Cover
5.00 | 1 ratings
Cowboys from Hell
Groove Metal 1990
.. Album Cover
0.00 | 0 ratings
Hostile Mixes
Groove Metal 1992
.. Album Cover
0.00 | 0 ratings
Hostile Moments
Groove Metal 1994
.. Album Cover
0.00 | 0 ratings
Planet Caravan
Groove Metal 1994
.. Album Cover
5.00 | 1 ratings
5 Minutes Alone / The Badge
Groove Metal 1994
.. Album Cover
5.00 | 1 ratings
I'm Broken
Groove Metal 1994
.. Album Cover
5.00 | 1 ratings
Revolution Is My Name
Groove Metal 2001

PANTERA movies (DVD, Blu-Ray or VHS)

.. Album Cover
0.00 | 0 ratings
The Hot 'n Heavy Home Vid
Glam Metal 1985
.. Album Cover
0.00 | 0 ratings
For Those About To Rock: Monsters In Moscow
Groove Metal 1992
.. Album Cover
2.38 | 4 ratings
3 Vulgar Videos From Hell
Groove Metal 1999

PANTERA Reviews

PANTERA History of Hostility

Boxset / Compilation · 2015 · Groove Metal
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martindavey87
Released in 2015, ‘History of Hostility’ is a compilation of groove metal legends, Pantera. Featuring just nine tracks, and clocking in at barely 43 minutes, this doesn’t so much feel like a definitive best-of, as it does one of those budget compilations that the record label likely released without any input from the band members themselves, most probably serving as a taster for people who weren’t overly familiar with the legendary Texans.

Still, despite its short duration, there’s no faulting the material. Featuring some of the bands biggest hits, the likes of ‘Cowboys From Hell’, ‘Walk’, ‘Cemetary Gates’, ‘Mouth For War’, ‘I’m Broken’ and ‘Revolution is My Name’ are all present here, and while albums like this are pretty much obsolete in the age of streaming, it’s still a nice enough addition to the collection.

PANTERA Metal Magic

Album · 1983 · Glam Metal
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martindavey87
I’m sure I’m not the only one who spent years believing ‘Cowboys From Hell’ was the bands first release, but alas, here we are, 1983’s ‘Metal Magic’, the true debut of glam metal/future groove metal legends Pantera.

Turns out, before becoming one of the biggest metal bands on the planet, Pantera had released four independent albums, although, unlike the heavy, gritty and downright dirty sound of their 90’s output, these were more on the glam side of things, so expect spandex, songs about partying, “Diamond Darrell”, and dare I say it… keyboards!

But despite being generally reviled by fans and even the band themselves, the truth is, these albums aren’t that bad. ‘Metal Magic’, while not exactly innovating new sounds or breaking down barriers, still has a couple of nice little rockers on it. ‘Tell Me If You Want It’, ‘Ride My Rocket’, ‘Widowmaker’ and ‘Biggest Part of Me’ are all pretty decent hair metal anthems, and considering how young the members were at this time (Dimebag was only 16!), it’s really hard to not be a little impressed.

Just a shame about the naff production.

Overall, this album won’t change your life, and my God, this is completely different from the Pantera which sold millions and millions of albums in the 90’s, so if that’s what you’re expecting then don’t bother. But ultimately this is an interesting listen to see how the band changed and evolved to become what they are, and you may even find yourself liking it.

PANTERA The Great Southern Trendkill

Album · 1996 · Groove Metal
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SilentScream213
The Great Southern Trendkill. What the heck does that even mean? Pantera had a penchant for album names that almost made sense, and this was the wackiest. Similarly, the music within is some of their most extreme and eclectic. It’s got easily their heaviest song ever in Suicide Note Pt. 2, whereas Pt. 1 is a calm, slow rocker. Floods is one of their longest songs, almost Progressive in nature and containing one of the greatest guitar solos of all time. The album is surprisingly consistent given the varying styles present here.

That being said, there is still a fair amount of “generic 90’s Groove Metal” here that doesn’t really stand out. Not exactly filler, but songs we’ve all heard many times that don’t offer much to people who aren’t die hard Pantera or Groove Metal fans.

The album has a dark, manic quality to it that probably mirrors the alleged turmoil within the band member’s lives at the time. It sounds like a death throe, and nothing against the underrated Reinventing the Steel, but it would have been a perfect swansong to end their career.

PANTERA The Great Southern Trendkill

Album · 1996 · Groove Metal
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UMUR
"The Great Southern Trendkill" is the 8th full-length studio album by US groove metal act Pantera. The album was released through East West Records in May 1996. It´s the successor to "Far Beyond Driven" from 1994, which proved to be a great commercial success for the band, but during the tour supporting the album, things began to change between the members of the band. Lead vocalist Phil Anselmo started acting strange and distancing himself from the rest of the band, and his performances also started to suffer. Anselmo suffered from a back injury (sustained because of his energetic live performances through many years), and had begun self-medicating with alcohol, but soon turned to heroin...and that´s when things really went south. Animosity and resentment grew between the four members of the band, to a point where the material for "The Great Southern Trendkill" were recorded at two seperate studios. The instrumental part of the music was recorded in Dallas, Texas, while Anselmo recorded his vocals at Trent Reznor's studio in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Stylistically "The Great Southern Trendkill" also comes off a bit disjointed and it´s definitely Pantera´s most experimental album. The core style is still groove metal, featuring the trademark heavy blues based riffs by Dimebag Darrell. The heavy grooves are however only a part of the sound on "The Great Southern Trendkill", which also features more experimental riff types, adventurous guitar solos, acoustic parts, and a wide range of raw, screaming, and aggressive vocals. Anselmo also delivers some clean vocals on the album, so overall "The Great Southern Trendkill" is a varied release.

"War Nerve", "Drag the Waters" (the only track off the album which was made into a music video), "13 Steps to Nowhere", "Living Through Me (Hell's Wrath)", "(Reprise) Sandblasted Skin", and "The Underground in America" are all groove laden and riff heavy aggressive tracks, while both the opening title track and "Suicide Note, Part II" are faster paced and more experimental in nature, featuring crazy screaming vocals. The album also features a ballad type track in "Suicide Note, Part I" (which wouldn´t have felt wrong if it was placed on the predominantly acoustic "Jar of Flies (1994)" EP by Alice in Chains) and two dark power ballads in "10's" and "Floods". I´m not sure power ballad is the best way to describe the two latter, as they are quite twisted and dark, but it´s the closest to a generic description I can find.

"The Great Southern Trendkill" features a powerful and heavy sound production, which suits the material perfectly, and paired with the strong musicianship, and the adventurous songwriting, the album is a high quality release. It did not sell the numbers that "Far Beyond Driven (1994)" did, and did not feature as many "hits" as the predecessor, but to my ears it´s probably the stronger of the two. It definitely doesn´t show a band who have lost their nerve or will to experiment with their sound, and it ends up being both a weakness and a strength. It´s a weakness because "The Great Southern Trendkill" is not a particularly accessible album nor is it as catchy as much of the material on the last three releases, and at times it does feel a bit incoherrent, but it´s a strength because Pantera still sound hungry, aggressive, and playful. It´s certainly a bold release at this point in their career. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

PANTERA Vulgar Display of Power

Album · 1992 · Groove Metal
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SilentScream213
The legendary Vulgar Display of Power. The TRUE original tough guy metal album, and the bottom line set for all of Groove Metal. Does it live up to the hype? Well, yes and no.

Vulgar Display of Power is actually one of the first metal albums I’d heard, thanks directly to three of its songs inspiring music in Doom. Back then, Phil’s harsh vocals bulging with testosterone were too tough for middle school me. I couldn’t handle the masculine aggression in that creature, but the riffs were awesome enough to get me to stay until my ears were able to withstand the full-on assault of his drug infused gorilla arms. The music was practically seeping with bull semen and stale alcohol, the guitar tone a disgusting buzzsaw drawl, and the drums hitting like concrete. The cover represents the music well.

The album jumps between aggressive Thrash beats and sharp riffs to plodding, sludgy groove sections; this pretty much set the standard for Groove Metal to follow as Thrash’s slower brother. For me, the Thrash bits are the best part. Songs like “Rise” are perfect example of unrelenting aggression. The pure Groove tracks like “Walk” do very little for me, and it’s that aspect of the album that makes it weaker than Cowboys from Hell to me. However, slower numbers “This Love” and the devastating “Hollow” are super unique and very well-done examples of Pantera’s slower side.

So why do I say “yes and no” as to whether this album lives up to the hype? Well, because across the span of many websites and circles, Vulgar Display of Power is actually not rated insanely high, usually sitting around the “great album, but no masterpiece” numbers. And that’s exactly what it is, simply an unprecedented, flawed, off-center punch in the face like no other. It is unabashedly itself; no masterpiece, but a very vulgar display of power that you can’t look away from, and will certainly never forget.

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