Pantera

From jeremy9 09/11/2019 07:02

Their sound has revolutionized Heavy Metal

From Fischman 02/03/2019 23:11

Massively heavy thrash metal outfit; fast, harsh, and uber aggressive. You want extreme heavy, look no further.

From LedZep 02/22/2018 17:10

Some of the heaviest and best (metal) music ever written.

From Strangel 07/20/2016 07:31

Pantera played their part in ridding me of my anger cathartically as a youngster. Now I look back on them with a shrug and wonder why I needed to listen to such aggressive gnashing of the teeth. Having said that, they didn't write a bad thrash tune. Vulgar is one of the top albums from this genre and Cowboys was a solid album that gave them wider recognition. They begin to lose their relevance from around Far Beyond which I didn't mind as an album. Their version of Planet Caravan was an interesting listen. I saw them live in Australia at their height and had opportunity to meet Phil. I went to introduce myself and he just screwed his face in this imbecilic silent growl. I immediately lost respect for the twat at that moment and whilst I judge the music on its merits I look back at the band with not too much fondness.

From zags7000 08/18/2015 08:07

Cowboys From Hell & Vulgar Display are masterful. After that it can get hit or miss but still plenty to like. One thing that is constant going back to Metal Magic & Projects in the Jungle is Dimebag's guitar. Even on those albums that are not really good at all, Dimebag makes them at least worth one listen. He was and forever will be the greatest metal guitarist ever & one of the greatest regardless of genre. We will always miss you Darrell.

Pantera may have to be my favourite heavy metal, really.
Cowboys From Hell is probably one of the best heavy metal songs of the 90's and all time.
They have other tracks that I have heard but they not all at the top for me, songs such as Cowboys From Hall and This Love are probably my only favourite Pantera songs, Walk and Becoming aren't half bad, also.
But yeah, Pantera are my favourite heavy metal band and they're the only band (that are heavy metal) I actually like.

From TheHolyKiwi 04/02/2015 05:39

They're pretty good, but I find them highly overrated, and this is because they are almost always put in front of much more talented bands.

Few bands can truly reinvent metal music. Pantera just might have done it better than anyone else, and it all started with Cowboys.

True, the follow-up album might be the angriest album ever recorded, but it only hints at what Phil Anselmo's vocal range is capable of.

***

I sailed on a day cruise with my old buddies from Turku, Finland to Mariehamn, Åland Islands - where we would board our skipper's yacht and cross over back to mainland in due course - two summers ago and what do you know: a tribute band called Plantera (from Gothenburg, Sweden if memory serves me right) had a gig in town the vey night we arrived.

Of course I told everyone to come check it out with me. I was myself half-joking, not really expecting much. I mean I don't really listen to music much these days, let alone metal. And some hobbyist posse trying to imitate Phil's register AND Darrell's guitar virtuosity?

Please...

Well, they all tagged happily along even though none of them had ever really - if at all - listened to Pantera back in the day. I guess we were all euphoric on drink and in anticipation of the upcoming days of sailing and mooring on random islands, and just wanted some place to fly the night away in any case.

At least I was, and just about perfectly sedated on deceptively tasty mixture of cheap red and coke, too, of which nickname I kept forgetting all the time, so I just started calling it oxymoron, the first thing that sprang to mind (ed. note: it's of course called kalimotxo and you should try it too if you haven't already - cheap AND good, there's god after all, eh?).

Trust me the whole house was on fire on that already warm summer night. Even my "big daddy" buddy who is something of a musiikkikyttä when he's borderline sober couldn't resist the temptation to mosh. It was surreal, but good fun.

And get this: back at the boat after the gig my friend's GF asks out loud that why aren't we listening to this sorta music all the time? Okay, she was well wasted - we all were - but she kept yakking the whole trip back to mainland about how fucking good the band had been.

She's a drummer herself, and used to tour with other bands (in a small scale), so I trust her judgment. Most of our little posse seemed to share her positive view anyways. As for myself, I only wished they would have played more stuff from Cowboys and Vulgar which I'm far more familiar with.

Yeah, guess I'm just one of those "the glass is half empty" -kinda people.

But suffice to say that nostalgia rarely feels that good. It sure brought back some fond memories. Never did catch real Pantera play but I'm sure they would have slaughtered Plantera (even when they were exceedingly good). That really says everything.

There's Pantera and then there's the rest. ;)

From Jasonconfused 11/16/2012 23:44

Heaviest band of the 90s! Incredible that they were able to be such a success when metal was basically being persecuted. It was all grunge rock... except for Pantera! Dimebag is one of the most influential metal guitarists and he left us too early. Anselmo has some of the most "punch you in the face" vocals. Love this band. Instantly pumps you up.