- Vulgar Display of Power · 1992
- Vulgar Display of Power · 1992
- The Best of Pantera: Far Beyond the Great Southern Cowboys' Vulgar Hits! (Remastered) · 1990
- Cowboys from Hell · 1990
- Far Beyond Driven (20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) · 1994
- The Great Southern Trendkill (20th Anniversary Edition) · 1996
- Far Beyond Driven (20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) · 1994
- Vulgar Display of Power (Deluxe Video Version) · 1992
- The Great Southern Trendkill (20th Anniversary Edition) · 1996
- Cowboys from Hell · 1990
- Vulgar Display of Power · 1992
- The Great Southern Trendkill (20th Anniversary Edition) · 1996
- Vulgar Display of Power · 1992
Essential Albums
- 1992’s Vulgar Display of Power had been a breakthrough for extreme metal unlike anything heard since the emergence of Metallica and Slayer in the '80s. Its success guaranteed that metal fans everywhere would have their eyes and ears open for the follow-up. Which they did, since 1994’s Far Beyond Driven shot to the No. 1 spot in sales in its first week of release. Pantera were determined to give their fans even more of what they bargained for. Dimebag Darrell works extra hard writing riffs that stick and getting guitar tones that take the sound into even heavier territory. Singer Phil Anselmo put his heart into it, and songs like “Becoming,” “Slaughtered,” and “I’m Broken” remain classics for Pantera and for metal in general. This 20th-anniversary edition includes remastered sound, with the deluxe edition adding the nine-song Far Beyond Bootleg—Live from Donington ’94 release, featuring Pantera’s entire live set recorded at the Monsters of Rock Festival in Donington, England, on June 4, 1994.
- Pantera followed up their breakthrough 1990 album, the platinum-certified Cowboys from Hell, with 1992’s Vulgar Display of Power, an even more punishing record. Thanks to the lightning-fast, nimble playing of the late guitarist Dimebag Darrell, the Texas-formed band unleashed breakneck thrash (“F*****g Hostile,” “Rise”), hulking hard rock (“Walk”), and viscous groove metal (“Mouth for War”). Phil Anselmo, now three albums in as Pantera’s lead vocalist, was comfortably settled into his role as a jawing bruiser who barked lyrics like a stern drill sergeant or taskmaster boxing coach. All of this brutality was a reflection of Pantera’s focus and ambition. Post-Cowboys, Pantera had toured with acts such as Sepultura, Judas Priest, and Suicidal Tendencies, which inspired the group to kick their aggression up several notches. Terry Date, who produced both Cowboys from Hell and Vulgar Display of Power, later told Revolver magazine that the band members “wanted to make the heaviest record of all time.” Yet although Vulgar Display of Power had no shortage of speed and heaviness, the album’s nuanced dynamics provided the biggest sucker punch. The moody “This Love” starts off deceptively slow and spare before exploding into a barrage of throwback ’80s metal riffs; the sludgy, droning rhythms on “A New Level” and “Live in Hole” churn like quicksand; and the anti-racism anthem “No Good (Attack the Radical)” touches on funk rock. Vulgar Display of Power is a towering achievement that ushered hard rock and heavy metal into the ’90s.
- Pantera had made four ’80s-style metal albums before they took a sharp turn toward muscular, bullying thrash on this 1990 breakthrough. Hints of the old tradition are still audible, and “Shattered” suggests Iron Maiden or Judas Priest to the 10th power. And there’s a kegger-ready hard-rock foundation that only makes everything above it punch harder—groove metal starts here, basically. On top, Dimebag Darrell’s shred-crazed solos on monsters like “Domination” and the Metallica-worthy epic “Cemetery Gates” complement Phil Anselmo’s enraged, tonsil-tearing growl to a tee.
Albums
- 2012
- 2012
- 2012
- 2012
- 2012
Artist Playlists
- These southern thrashers hit harder than just about anyone.
- Their explosive approach impacted a generation.
- Listen to the hits performed on the blockbuster tour.
About Pantera
If there’s a single image that summarizes what Pantera were all about, it’s the fist throttling some poor sucker’s face that adorns the cover of their 1992 landmark album Vulgar Display of Power. The unapologetically defiant Texans were peerless in their personification of heavy-metal aggression both onstage and off. Prior to their 2003 breakup, Pantera unleashed a string of punishing and profoundly influential records that serve as the blueprint for groove metal, a uniquely American fusion of thrash’s violent shredder ethos and the greasy, rugged swagger of ’70s hard rock. It’s no exaggeration to say that just about every tune in their catalog—“Cowboys from Hell,” “Walk,” “5 Minutes Alone,” “F*****g Hostile,” “I’m Broken”—is the sonic equivalent of a bloody bar brawl. This was very much by design. Founded in 1981, the band initially played glam metal before guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott and crew consciously pressed the reset button and began developing a whole new sound, one balancing extreme heaviness with ridiculously catchy riffs and hooks. It all came together for Pantera with the addition of singer Phil Anselmo in 1987; his menacing howl fit perfectly with the group’s growing experimentation with dropped-D tuning, bone-snapping breakdowns, and chugging rhythms. Their innovations, particularly Abbott’s idiosyncratic fretwork (of which Eddie Van Halen was a big fan), have since spread throughout heavy metal’s tangled genre tree. Sludge, metalcore, death metal, nu-metal, doom, and alt-metal have all sprouted countless bands inspired by Pantera, who achieved brilliance while leaving in their wake a trail of headline-grabbing controversies and tragedies (including the murder of Abbott barely a year after the band had called it quits). Their imposing legacy places them right alongside fellow giants Metallica and Judas Priest.
- ORIGIN
- Arlington, TX, United States
- FORMED
- 1982
- GENRE
- Metal