Pantera

For other uses, see Pantera (disambiguation).

Pantera
Background information
Origin	Dallas, Texas, United States
Years active	1981 – 2003
Members	Phil Anselmo, Dimebag Darrell, Vinnie Paul, Rex Brown

Pantera was a popular heavy metal band from Dallas, Texas that formed in 1981. Specifically, some fans consider them power metal, groove metal (post-thrash), 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.

On VH1's list of 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock, Pantera ranked forty-fifth. Despite the generally cold reception of their first four albums, critics have lauded Pantera's style thereafter; Jason Birchmeier of the All Music Guide considers Pantera to be "arguably the greatest metal band of '90s and ... one of the greatest and most influential metal bands ever."^[1]

The word "pantera" means "panther" in a number of other languages, but the name itself is derived from the band's home town of Pantego, Texas.

Biography

Formation

Pantera formed in 1981 with its original line-up consisting of drummer Vinnie Paul, his guitarist brother Dimebag Darrell (originally referred to as Diamond Darrell), bassist Tommy Bradford, vocalist Donnie Hart, and guitarist Terry Glaze. At its birth, the members of Pantera were in high school (11th grade, specifically), and began performing in Texas nightclubs. Because the band members were influenced by contemporary acts such as KISS and Van Halen, they primarily covered songs from those bands.

In 1982, Hart left the band and Glaze was moved to the vocalist position. Bradford's role as the band's bassist was soon taken over by Rex Brown, who, like the Abbot brothers, would stick with the band until its end. While the band showed promise, it would take time before they were able to make it farther than Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana for their performances. Pantera began supporting fellow heavy metal acts such as Stryper, Dokken, and Quiet Riot, who in turn promoted Pantera's soon to be released debut, Metal Magic.

Studio activity

File:Panteraold.PNG

The band's logo circa 1988

Starting in 1983, Pantera released three initial albums (Metal Magic, Projects in the Jungle, and I Am the Night) before Dimebag Darrell, Vinnie Paul, and Rex Brown ditched singer Terry Glaze in favor of Phil Anselmo with 1988's Power Metal. Glaze's departure meant the formation of his own band, Lord Tracy. After exploring several vocalists, the remaining members then located frontman Phil Anselmo in New Orleans and produced Power Metal, an album which had Phil re-recording some songs originally sung by Glaze, in addition to a few originals. Pantera's style in these first four recordings is best described as hair metal, a popular style of heavy metal music at the time.

File:Bandearly.jpg

The original lineup from the early 80s

The first commercially successful album Pantera recorded was 1990's Cowboys from Hell, which was also their first release not from their own independent record label. The band was turned down "28 times by every major label on the face of the Earth"^[2] until Mark Ross, an Atco Records representative, saw the band perform while stranded in Texas due to Hurricane Hugo. At this point, Pantera's music was still heavily influenced by "classic heavy metal", with Rob Halford-style vocals and more complex riffs and solos of guitarist Dimebag Darrell, though the album also began showing a much more extreme style than previous efforts. Cowboys from Hell, which nearly abandoned all of their previous hair metal sound, marked a critical juncture in the band's history; most fans, along with the band itself, consider it to be Pantera's "official" debut.^[1] This release includes the popular songs "Cemetery Gates", a brooding seven-minute piece that focuses on death and religion, and the thrashing title track, which gives the band their nickname and personality as "Cowboys from Hell".

Pantera's unique "power groove" style (referring to songs composed primarily of groove-oriented riffs) came to fruition in their breakthrough album Vulgar Display of Power (1992), which saw the replacement of the falsetto vocals with a more hardcore-influenced shouted delivery and a much heavier guitar sound. While some critics point to the rise of grunge as the subsequent downfall of hair metal, others claim Pantera, most notably on Vulgar Display of Power, as being the catalyst that overpowered popular '80s metal. Among critics and fans, it is frequently cited as the band's best effort.^[2] Songs like "Fucking Hostile", a fast, aggressive challenge of authority, the riff-driven "Walk", and the first metal single to debut at #1 on the Billboard charts, "Mouth for War", remain some of the most popular songs in their catalogue.

The extent to which Vulgar Display of Power grew in popularity can be assessed by the instant success of the 1994 follow-up, Far Beyond Driven, which debuted at #1 in both U.S. and Australian album charts - the first metal album ever to achieve this. "I'm Broken", the fourth track on Far Beyond Driven, was nominated for Best Metal Performance at the 37th Annual Grammy Awards. This was all accomplished despite the failing fortunes of metal in America at that time. In this release, Pantera took an even more extreme direction with their musical style.

Pantera's next album, The Great Southern Trendkill, was released in 1996 during the height of grunge rock and the emergence of rap metal. The album saw moderate success, especially considering the time at which it was released; it is often considered Pantera's "overlooked" album.^[2] Phil Anselmo recorded the vocals for this release in the studio of famous Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor. In comparison to the band's previous efforts, there was a much heavier emphasis on vocal overdubbing in a somewhat "demonic" fashion. Drug abuse is a popular theme in The Great Southern Trendkill, as exemplified by tracks like both parts of "Suicide Note" and "Living Through Me (Hell's Wrath)". Perhaps the most popular song from Trendkill is "Drag the Waters", which advises the listener to take the motives of others with a grain of salt. "Drag the Waters" is the only song from Trendkill to be made into a music video, and likewise, the only track from the album to appear on their compilation album.

File:Pantera logo.jpg

A more recent Pantera logo

Some of the band's live performances were eventually compiled in their 1997 release, Official Live: 101 Proof. Aside from fourteen live tracks that appear in their first four studio albums (if starting from Cowboys from Hell), the compilation features two new studio-quality songs: "Where You Come From" and "I Can't Hide". Some tracks have slightly different titles than their originals (e.g., "Hostile" instead of "Fucking Hostile"), while a track like "Dom/Hollow" ("Domination" and "Hollow", respectively) merged two previously written songs together for their live performance version.

Pantera's final album (released in 2000) is titled Reinventing the Steel, and has several songs that deal with the topic of the band itself. Reinventing the Steel, debuting at #4 on the Billboard 200, includes the singles "Goddamn Electric" and "Revolution is my Name", of which the former's lead was recorded by Kerry King of Slayer during Ozzfest in Dallas. "Revolution is My Name" was also nominated for a Best Metal Performance Grammy at the 2001 Awards.

Personality and influences

Pantera has toured with Ozzfest as main stage acts twice; they played at the second annual Ozzfest in 1997 and the fifth Ozzfest in 2000. Throughout the band's career, they developed into legendary status on tour. They became known for their excessive partying and debauchery, even acquiring an official drink called the "Black Tooth Grin".

Pantera also adopted a self-described "take no shit" attitude, epitomized in their popular song "5 Minutes Alone" off of Far Beyond Driven. According to drummer Vinnie Paul, during a show in San Diego, a man in the front row was heckling vocalist Phil Anselmo. Anselmo, becoming annoyed, incited the crowd to "jump [his] ass and beat the shit out of him on the spot." Consequently, the band was sued; the man's father took action and called Pantera's manager, saying, "You just give me five minutes alone with that Phil Anselmo guy and I'll show him who's big daddy around here." Thus, "5 Minutes Alone" was born out of that experience.^[2]

The band takes pride in what they perceive to be an uncompromising career in which they never "sold out" or gave into trends. This is most noticeably highlighted in the themes (and the title) of The Great Southern Trendkill. On their official Web site, Anselmo puts it in his own words:

We've survived every fucking trend. Heavy metal, grunge metal, funk metal, rap metal - and we're still here. We put everyone on notice that we don't fuck around. Our fans know we're true right down to the fucking core.

Similarly, the die-hard attitude of "We'll Grind That Axe For a Long Time" (from Reinventing the Steel) is, according to Anselmo, "in a way, our motto."

Aside from their thrash metal influences, Pantera cite heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath as one of their favorite bands. As a tribute, Pantera has recorded three different covers of Black Sabbath songs (all from the Ozzy Osbourne era). The first was "Planet Caravan" (from Paranoid), a slower, quieter song that appeared as Far Beyond Driven's final track; quite a change from the rest of the songs on that album. Pantera originally planned on putting "Planet Caravan" on the first Sabbath tribute album, Nativity in Black, but due to legal issues, they were forced to place it on Far Beyond Driven. However, as the second Nativity in Black was being planned, Pantera got another chance to record a Sabbath cover. They subsequently produced "Electric Funeral" (also from Paranoid), and managed to appear on Nativity in Black II: A Tribute to Black Sabbath. Finally, for their 2003 compilation album, The Best of Pantera: Far Beyond the Great Southern Cowboys' Vulgar Hits!, Pantera covered the Black Sabbath song "Hole in the Sky" (from Sabotage).

Criticism

Exhorder

Pantera has come under criticism within the heavy metal world in relation to New Orleans groove metal band Exhorder. Some fans have accused Pantera of stealing from Exhorder the groove metal sound that they became famous for. While Pantera's style change on Cowboys from Hell was released before Exhorder's debut, Slaughter in the Vatican, the band self-released two demos in the late '80s that a number of fans believe to be the real birth of the musical style that Pantera popularized.

The All Music Guide points to several elements of Exhorder's debut that could potentially explain their lack of success in relation to Pantera. In disagreement with the opinion that Exhorder is "Pantera minus the good songs," AMG's review of Slaughter in the Vatican expresses that "perhaps a more accurate billing would be to call them Pantera without the major label backing." They also point to the fact that the title of their debut, along with the unsubtle album cover, "certainly didn't help [their] cause any."^[3]

However, some fans and critics dispute any notion that Pantera "stole" Exhorder's sound. Brian Davis, a contributor to Internet radio station KNAC, addresses the issue as follows:

Exhorder's main "claim to fame" is the common opinion that they're the band that Pantera stole their sound from. That's total bullshit. There are minor similarities in guitar style, and on occasion, vocalist Kyle Thomas spits out a line or scream that will bring Pantera to mind, but to go so far as to say that Pantera is an Exhorder clone is ludicrous.^[4]

Despite originally decrying Pantera as a rip-off to their sound, former lead vocalist of Exhorder, Kyle Thomas, has recently stated that he doesn't care about any of the criticism and is sick of seeing Exhorder's name tied to Pantera's. He also stated that he and Pantera were great friends who used to tour together, and that he mourns the loss of Dimebag Darrell.^{[5] [6]}

Megadeth

Besides some claims that Pantera stole Exhorder's sound, Dave Mustaine of Megadeth told MTV in 1994:

When I got together with James [Hetfield], he and I created a guitar style that everybody and their brother is playing now, everyone. I'm not gonna name anybody 'cause I'm not gonna promote them. OK, we'll say "panther" in Spanish [Pantera]. You're welcome guys. We might as well be cooking their dinner for them or pushing their little wheelbarrow to the bank for them.^[7]

A possible explanation for Mustaine's statements could come from the fact that Pantera's guitarist, Dimebag Darrell, auditioned for Megadeth shortly before Cowboys from Hell was released. Darrell insisted that his brother and fellow bandmate, Vinnie Paul, was to be included, but since Megadeth already had a drummer, they backed off and recruited Marty Friedman instead.^[8]

Break-up

Around 2001, Pantera dissolved after Anselmo left the band to pursue other work with such bands as Down, though the Abbott brothers did not officially end the band until they began work on their new project New Found Power. Similar to the circumstances when Rob Halford left Judas Priest, the remaining members held out for a time, assuming that he would return to the group, but this never occurred. However, according to Anselmo, taking a break from Pantera was a "mutual thing" between each of the band members.^[9]

Anselmo instead decided to carry on full time with one of his (several) side bands Superjoint Ritual, who have, as of 2003, released two albums. Following the release of the second Superjoint Ritual album, Vinnie Paul (Abbott) and Dimebag Darrell (Abbott) formed New Found Power which was later renamed Damageplan.

The break-up of the band was not amicable and subsequently a war between Superjoint and Damageplan was waged via the heavy metal and musical press. Among the accusations thrown were that Anselmo and the Abbott brothers had difficulties in agreeing upon the direction in which they wanted Pantera's music to go in. Vinnie Paul and Dimebag later commented that Anselmo was forcing them to make the music that Anselmo wanted to make, and that they were not allowed to experiment and take chances with their recordings. In addition, Anselmo's drug habits (for example, a rather infamous heroin overdose during a show) are known to have caused some turmoil within the band. Finally, likely as a result of the other issues Pantera faced internally, the relationship between Anselmo and the Abbott brothers was rapidly deteriorating in general. Caught up in the torrent was bassist Rex Brown, who ultimately aligned himself with Anselmo, joining him on the second Down album - A Bustle in Your Hedgerow.

Murder

On December 8, 2004, crazed fan Nathan Gale, 25, jumped onstage and shot and killed Dimebag Darrell at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio as Damageplan began to perfom their first song. Those killed before Gale was shot dead by police officer James Niggemeyer were Nathan Bray, 23, (audience member); Erin Halk, 29, (club employee); and Jeff Thompson, 40, (member of the band's security entourage).^[10] (For more on the shooting, see Dimebag Darrell.)

To date

Public comments made by Phil Anselmo following the shooting suggested that he had considered reuniting with the band prior to Dimebag Darrell's death.^[11] However, an interview with Vinnie Paul one year after Dimebag Darrell's murder stated that this reunion was never going to happen.^[12]

Final line-up

• Phil Anselmo (Philip Hansen Anselmo) - Vocals
• Dimebag Darrell (Darrell Lance Abbott) - Guitars & Backing Vocals
• Vinnie Paul (Vincent Paul Abbott) - Drums
• Rex Brown (Rex Robert Brown) - Bass

Former members

• Terry Glaze (Terrence Lee Glaze) - Vocals
• David Peacock - Vocals
• Donnie Hart - Vocals
• Matt L'Amour - Vocals
• Tommy Bradford - Bass

Discography

Independent/early releases

Album Cover	Date of Release	Title	Label	Chart positions	US sales
	1983	Metal Magic	Metal Magic Records
	October 12, 1984	Projects in the Jungle	Metal Magic Records
	1985	I Am the Night	Metal Magic Records
	1988	Power Metal	Metal Magic Records

Major label releases

Album Cover	Date of US Release	Title	Label	Chart positions	US sales
	July 24, 1990	Cowboys from Hell	Atlantic Records	Billboard Heatseeker: #27
	February 25, 1992	Vulgar Display of Power	Eastwest Records	Billboard Top 200: #44
	March 15, 1994	Far Beyond Driven	Eastwest Records	Billboard Top 200: #1
	May 22, 1996	The Great Southern Trendkill	Eastwest Records	Billboard Top 200: #4
	July 29, 1997	Official Live: 101 Proof	Eastwest Records	Billboard Top 200: #15
	March 14, 2000	Reinventing the Steel	Eastwest Records	Billboard Top 200: #4
	September 23, 2003	The Best of Pantera: Far Beyond the Great Southern Cowboys' Vulgar Hits! Reinventing Hell: The Best of Pantera (international title)	Eastwest Records

DVD and video

• The Hot 'n Heavy Home Vid (1985)
• Cowboys from Hell - The Videos (1991)
• Vulgar Video (1993)
• 3: Watch it Go (1997)
• Pantera: 3 Vulgar Videos from Hell (1999) (DVD re-release)

Soundtracks

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer soundtrack [featuring Pantera and Rob Halford collaborating on "Light Comes Out of Black"] - (1992)
• The Crow soundtrack [featuring "The Badge"] - (1994)
• Detroit Rock City soundtrack [featuring Pantera covering Ted Nugent's "Cat Scratch Fever"] - (1999)
• Heavy Metal 2000 soundtrack [featuring "Immortally Insane"] - (2000)
• Nativity in Black II: A Tribute to Black Sabbath [featuring Pantera covering "Electric Funeral"] - (2000)
• Dracula 2000 soundtrack [featuring "Avoid the Light"] - (2000)
• SpongeBob SquarePants: Original Theme Highlights soundtrack [featuring Pantera's "Pre-Hibernation"] - (2001)

Music videos

• "Cowboys from Hell" (Cowboys from Hell)
• "Psycho Holiday" (Cowboys from Hell)
• "Cemetery Gates" (Cowboys from Hell)
• "Primal Concrete Sledge" [Live] (recorded version on Cowboys from Hell)
• "Domination" [Live] (recorded version on Cowboys from Hell)
• "Mouth for War" (Vulgar Display of Power)
• "This Love" (Vulgar Display of Power)
• "Walk" (Vulgar Display of Power)
• "5 Minutes Alone" (Far Beyond Driven)
• "I'm Broken" (Far Beyond Driven)
• "Planet Caravan" (Far Beyond Driven)
• "Drag the Waters" (The Great Southern Trendkill)
• "Revolution is My Name" (Reinventing the Steel)

External links

• Official Pantera Site
• A Vulgar Display of PanterA
• Dimebag Darrell tribute site
• Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul tribute site
• Pantera lyrics
• Pantera at MySpace

References

1. ^ ^a "A short biography on Pantera". All Music Guide. October 17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
2. ^ ^{a b c} Kaye, Don (2003). "The Best of Pantera: Far Beyond the Great Southern Cowboys' Vulgar Hits!". {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |org= ignored (help)
3. ^ "Slaughter in the Vatican review". All Music Guide. October 21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
4. ^ "Exhorder Slaughter in the Vatican/The Law 2-in-1 Re-Release". KNAC.com. October 21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
5. ^ "Kyle Thomas Speaks Out on the Pantera/Exhorder 'Fued'". Blistering.com. November 5. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
6. ^ "Former EXHORDER Frontman: We 'Lost An Innovator, A Warrior, And A Metal God'". Blabbermouth.net. November 5. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
7. ^ "Megadeth Trash Pantera, Dave Matthews Band Busts Out, Mariah Skates: This Week In 1994". MTV. November 29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
8. ^ "A Pantera Biography". Rockdetector. December 29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
9. ^ "Phil Anselmo speaks on the future of Pantera on May 27, 2003". Blabbermouth.net. October 17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
10. ^ "Dimebag Darrell, Four Others Killed In Ohio Concert Shooting". MTV. December 29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
11. ^ "Philip H. Anselmo; On Behalf of Darrell Lance Abbott, Pt. I". October 17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
12. ^ Bowcott, Nick (January 2006). "Dimebag: One Year On". {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |org= ignored (help)