LENGHTY PANTERA POST

I already posted about Pantera's 20th Anniversary of Cowboys From Hell deal back in September (here) yet here I go again with yet another one! Former Pantera frontman Phil Anselmo is on the cover of this months issue of Decibel magazine (the only real print publication covering extreme music here in the states). After reading his cover story/interview I couldn't help but feel some Pantera nostalgia wash over me. Like many entry level/teenage metal heads past, present and for the foreseeable future, Pantera was an important gateway band for me. While I had already headed down the evolutionary path of Metallica < Slayer< Sepultura< Death, I still managed to love me some mainstream All- American "Power Groove" via Phil, Rex, Vinnie and Dime from Pantera. Shit was catchy as hell, sounded crystal clear on my disc man and honestly was fun to fucking listen to and or watch. That was perhaps the thing I liked most about Pantera.


Remember their awesome home videos? Shit was hilarious. It was like JACKASS and CKY but with headbangers instead of skateboarders. Who wouldn't have wanted to hang out with these crazy fucks? Thats coming from a straight-edge no drugs/alcohol stick in the mud like myself. I mean, just watch:


My teenage self would much rather hang out with Pantera than say, Cannibal Corpse any day of the week. Pantera likes to smash shit, set off fireworks, hang out with naked chicks and act retarded around the world. How awesome is that?

The other thing I loved about Pantera was the strange dichotomy between it's members. Vinnie and Dimebag were undoubtedly the musical talent. They could shred their respective instruments to hell and jam on a telepathic/brotherly love type vibe that was pretty astounding. The only problem with the redneck Van Halen bros. was their ignorance. Yeah, these boys could play but they knew jack shit about metal. About REAL metal anyways. Vinnie and Dime were always quick to jump on the trend wagon because their metal integrity was a bit lacking. Here's Pantera, the glam metal act in the 1980's.

and here they are again in the early 2000's all up on the Nu-Metal train with their godawful Damageplan. Sigh.

one of these things is not like the other...

Phil joins the band in the late 80's and Pantera magically transforms from Texan cock rock outfit to semi-Thrash AGGRO band jamming with Exodus & Slayer. Hmmmm. Phil's interview in the new Decibel only reiterates what everyone has known all along, that Phil was always the guy in the band with his ear in the underground/extreme metal world. The dude was giving props to Darkthrone and Morbid Angel during the height of Pantera's MTV reign. Phil succeeded in pushing the band to the limits of extremity throughout the 90's. His vocals alone transformed from a rasp, to a bark to a damn near unbearably painful screech by the time the The Great Southern Trendkill came out. Vinnie Paul's double bass work on Far Beyond Driven was and still is pretty sick. Diamond Darrell transformed from that hick who plays cool solos into Dimebag Darrell, guitar legend...period, by the end of the millennium. As for Rex, he plays bass. Leave him alone.

So yeah, the yin and yang of these twisted Southern fellows created one of the sweetest metal bands of all time. The strange Frankenstein monster that was Pantera is gone forever and I'll never forgive myself for passing on a chance to see them on what became their final US tour with Slayer, Static X and Morbid Angel in 2001. So here's some rad youtube clips celebrating the music of  Phil, Rex, Vinnie and Dime. RIP Pantera.


Heres a lovely young thing named Meytal Cohen playing drums to "Cowboys from Hell." She's cute as fuck, has a funny accent, plays drums like a champ, and sometimes wears outfits that make her tits jiggle and sexy legs shine through. You're Welcome.


This is the handy work of some diabolical music teacher who forces his kids/students to jam along to Pantera. It's like a non-gay School of Rock.


Finally, my favorite Pantera music video ever. It's the four of them in a room just rocking the fuck out.
Jesus, Terry Date's production on Far Beyond Driven is AMAZING. Dime's guitar tone is a thing of beauty here. Vinnie snare sounds like he's chopping wood with an ax, Rex has probably the sickest groove here than on any other Pantera album and Phil's voice is straight up lethal. Sounds like he's been gargling nails.

So go listen to Pantera. Watch their always entertaining home videos on Youtube if you're lazy/cheap. Subscribe to Decibel and read Phil's new interview and pay homage to the man by shaving your head like I did.

RE-SPECT-WALK