PANTERA — Far Beyond Driven (review)

Album · 1994 · Groove Metal

5/5 · 2021-05-21
Unitron

"I'M, shedding skin, changing within, falling in"

No other band sings to the anger, frustrations, and deep inner emotions like Pantera for me. They hit hard both physically and emotionally on such a primal level, It's always a release of all the built up emotions ready to come out.

Far Beyond Driven is the band at their most thunderous production, on a good stereo this has the resonance of a cannon blast or an explosion. There's really cool atmospheric touches, mainly on Shedding Skin, probably my favorite song on here if I had to pick. The echo effect on Phil's vocals when he says "I'm" is a small detail yet enhances it a lot and compliments the crawling main riff.

Dimebag's guitar riffs are at their sludgiest, dripping with heavy weight and combined with dissonant screeching and breakdowns. Rex Brown's bass shows its true groove and great hooks, always complimenting Dime's discordant solos. The drums as always pack a punch, going from double kick to a syncopated swing. Phil's vocals though are what completes the extreme fury of this album, with some of the most intense vocals ever put to record, especially with the likes of Slaughtered.

There's so much variety throughout the album, yet always the same energy. Good Friends and a Bottle of Pills is noisy, chaotic, and incredibly dissonant. It reminds me of Slab!, with the combination of spoken word, huge drums, and screeching feedback. Some of the riffs sound a bit southern like something from Down, most notably on I'm Broken, but with the added extra aggression. The contrast is great, especially with 25 Years which always gets me pumped at the end, it's like the musical equivalent of a street brawl. Sometimes the variety is within one song, short songs like Strength Beyond Strength are as if they're split into different sections. It's something I haven't heard elsewhere other than some Megadeth songs like Wake Up Dead.

Ending with a mellow cover might seem odd at first, but with this album, Planet Caravan is a perfect finale. This album is so intense that it's near impossible to sit still, and the Black Sabbath cover acts as a perfect cool down after never letting up for 50 minutes. Far Beyond Driven was the band becoming even more than a fantastic thrash/groove metal band, and really can't be compared to anyone else.

more than 2 years ago
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siLLy puPPy wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Yeah they are a top band for me too but i've been squeamish in checking out those early ones. Guess i don't want to ruin the magic! OK i;ll check them out. Can't be worse than Poison :D

Unitron wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Vulgar is my favorite, but they're one of my top 5 all time favorite bands, so I love all their albums minus Metal Magic (and even that is still pretty good). One of the things I love about them is that every album is different yet all brought together by their distinct sound. And don't neglect the 80's albums, Power Metal especially is a fantastic Judas Priest-meets-early 80's-sounding thrash album and there's definitely elements of where they'd go on Cowboys on it.

siLLy puPPy wrote:

more than 2 years ago

For me Cowboys From Hell is the ultimate groove metal album. Vulgar Dispaly was a great followup but had a few tracks that sounded recycled. This one took longer to sink in but ultimately resonated quite well. The Great Southern Trendkill is also another top dog in my world. Reinventing The Steel was is my least fave of the classic Pantera era. I still haven't check out those glam metal albums of the 80s!

UMUR wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Personally the two direct predecessors are more my poison, but this one is great too and a lot more unconventional in both compositional structure and elements used.

siLLy puPPy wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Right on! Someone else who appreciates this 90s gem!