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Pantera was a heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas, that formed in 1981. Emerging alongside influential classic thrash metal acts such as Slayer, Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax, Pantera was a key formulator of the groove metal (post-thrash) subgenre of heavy metal music.

It would not be until nine years after forming that Pantera saw its first bit of commercial success in its major label debut, Cowboys from Hell. From there, Pantera became one of the most celebrated heavy metal bands of the 1990s. Despite the generally cold reception of the band's 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." The band has received accolades such as ranking 45 on VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock" and fifth on MTV's "Top 10 Greatest Heavy Metal Bands of All-Time".

Due to long-standing internal conflicts, Pantera dissolved in 2003. The following year, the band's guitarist, Dimebag Darrell, was shot and killed on-stage while performing with his new band, Damageplan.

History

Formation and early glam years (1981-1987)

Pantera formed in 1981 with its original line-up consisting of drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott, his brother, guitarist Dimebag Darrell Abbott (originally referred to as Diamond Darrell), bassist Tommy Bradford, guitarist Terry Glaze (also known as Terrence Lee), and vocalist Donnie Hart. At its conception, the members of Pantera were in 11th grade. They began performing KISS and Van Halen covers as well as original material in the glam metal vein in Texas nightclubs. Along with adopting the glam metal sound, the band members frequently performed in spandex and teased-up hair, a common appearance in the glam metal scene.

In 1982, Hart left the band and Glaze took over vocal duties. Rex Brown (originally referred to as Rex Rocker) soon replaced Bradford on bass. Pantera became an underground favorite, though its regional tours in this era never took them past Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. The band began supporting fellow heavy metal acts such as Stryper, Dokken, and Quiet Riot, who in turn promoted Pantera's debut, Metal Magic. Metal Magic was released on the band's record label with the same name in 1983 and produced by the Abbott brothers' father, Jerry Abbott (referred to as "The Eldn'"), at Pantego Studios.

The following year, Pantera released its second album, Projects in the Jungle. Though still very much a glam metal album, the band members crafted songs that had less overbearing melodic influences than songs from Metal Magic. Another change was Terry Glaze's surname, which would be "Lee" from then on. In addition, a music video for the album's lead track, "All Over Tonight", was eventually created. Projects in the Jungle was also released on the independent Metal Magic Records label and produced by Jerry Abbott.

For the third consecutive year, Pantera recorded a full-length album to be released on Metal Magic Records, this time entitled I Am the Night. As with Projects in the Jungle, this album saw Pantera's sound becoming heavier (though still rooted in glam metal), and the heavy metal press took more notice of the band. Because of poor distribution, I Am the Night was a costly album to many fans. Around 25,000 copies of I Am the Night were sold. Pantera's second music video was produced for the track "Hot and Heavy".

A new vocalist emerges (1987-1989)

In 1986, two landmark thrash metal albums, Slayer's Reign in Blood and Metallica's Master of Puppets were released. These two bands would prove to be an important influence on Pantera's change in musical direction. Terrence Lee's glam approach did not fit the band's new outlook and was released; Pantera's search for a new vocalist had begun.

The band went through temporary vocalists such as Matt L'Amour and David Peacock before eventually discovering New Orleans native Philip Anselmo. Prior to joining, Anselmo was the vocalist for the bands Samhain and Razorwhite, and at his first jam session with Pantera, immediately clicked with the other members. With the search over, the band members decided to seriously reconsider their glam metal sound and image. Referring to the band's spandex appearance, Vinnie Paul remarked at a band meeting that "These magic clothes don't play music. We do. Let's just go out there and be comfortable – jeans, t-shirt, whatever – and see where it goes."

More than just the band's image was changing, however. In 1988, Pantera released its first album with Anselmo, entitled Power Metal. By far the band's heaviest album at this point, Power Metal was a mix of 1980s hard rock and thrash metal, sometimes blending both styles in a single song. Complementing the band's new sonic approach was Anselmo's harder-edged vocals compared to those of Terrence Lee.

As with the previous three '80s albums, Power Metal was released on Metal Magic Records. Because the band members would later ignore their independent releases as they sculpted a new, heavier image, these four albums are not listed on the band's official Web site and have become hard-to-find collector's items.

Cowboys from Hell (1989-1991)

Shortly after Power Metal was released, guitarist Dimebag Darrell (known then as Diamond Darrell) auditioned for Megadeth's vacant guitar slot. Darrell insisted his brother, bandmate Vinnie Paul, be included, but since Megadeth already had a drummer (former Megadeth roadie Nick Menza), the band backed off and recruited Marty Friedman instead. The Abbott brothers focused their attention back on Pantera, when in 1989, they were given their first shot at commercial success.

After being turned down "28 times by every major label on the face of the Earth," Atco Records representative Mark Ross saw the band perform after Hurricane Hugo stranded him in Texas. Ross was impressed by the band's performance and called his boss, suggesting that Pantera be signed to the label. Atco Records accepted, and at the close of 1989, the band recorded its major label debut at Pantego Studios.

Released on July 24, 1990, Cowboys from Hell was another leap into heavier territory. Pantera showed a more extreme style on this outing, leaving behind its glam metal influences in favor of an amalgamation of power metal and groove metal dubbed "power groove" by the band. Although Anselmo still used Rob Halford-influenced falsetto vocals, he also adopted a more abrasive delivery. Guitarist Abbott's more complex riffs and solos, along with his brother's faster-paced drumwork were evidence of the band's extreme transformation. The album marked a critical juncture in the band's history and most fans, along with the band itself, consider it Pantera's "official" debut. This release includes the popular tracks "Cemetery Gates", a brooding seven-minute piece that focuses on death and religion, and the thrashing title track, which gives the band members their nickname and personality.

So began the Cowboys from Hell tour alongside thrash act Exodus and hardcore punk band Suicidal Tendencies. In 1991, Rob Halford performed with the band onstage, which led Pantera to open for Judas Priest on its first show in Europe. The band eventually landed on a billing with AC/DC and Metallica and played to a crowd of over 500,000 for the "Monsters in Moscow" concert, which celebrated the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Vulgar Display of Power and Far Beyond Driven (1992-1994)

Pantera's unique "groove" style came to fruition in its breakthrough album Vulgar Display of Power, released on February 25, 1992, which saw the replacement of the power metal falsetto vocals with a hardcore-influenced shouted delivery and heavier guitar sound. While some critics point to the rise of grunge music as the subsequent downfall of glam metal, others claim Pantera, most notably on Vulgar, as being the catalyst that overpowered popular '80s metal. Among critics and fans, it is frequently cited as the band's best effort. Songs like "Fucking Hostile", a fast, aggressive challenge of authority, the riff-driven "Walk", and "Mouth for War", remain some of the most popular songs in Pantera's catalog. Singles from Vulgar also received significant airplay on radio and their music videos on MTV. The album entered the American charts at #44.

Also in 1992, Pantera again collaborated with Judas Priest vocalist Rob Halford and cut the track "Light Comes Out of Black" for the Buffy the Vampire Slayer soundtrack. Halford took over main vocalist duties on the track, with Anselmo providing backing vocals. After the collaboration, Pantera hit the road again, visiting Japan for the first time in July 1992 and later performing at the Monsters of Rock festival co-headlined by Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath in Italy.

The extent to which Vulgar Display of Power grew in popularity can be assessed by the instant success of its follow-up, Far Beyond Driven (released on March 15, 1994), which debuted at #1 in both U.S. and Australian album charts, the first metal album to do so. "I'm Broken", Driven's fourth track, was nominated for Best Metal Performance at the 1995 Grammys. In this release, Pantera continued its groove metal approach, while taking an even more extreme direction with its musical style.

Pantera hit the road again and toured South America, along with being accepted into another Monsters of Rock billing. On June 4, 1994, the Abbott brothers got into a scuffle with journalists from the metal magazine Kerrang! over unflattering cartoon depictions of drummer Vinnie Paul. Pantera continued to tour the United Kingdom and eventually ended it in the United States where the band were opened for by fellow groove metal band Prong.

Band tension and a new album (1994-1996)

According to the Abbott brothers, frontman Phil Anselmo began behaving strangely and distanced himself from the band when they returned to the road in 1995. The rest of the band members first thought that Pantera's fame had gotten to Anselmo, but Anselmo cited back pain from years of intense performances as the reason for his erratic behavior. Anselmo attempted to subdue his pain through alcohol, but this, as he admits, was affecting his performances and "putting some worry into the band." Doctors predicted that with surgery, Anselmo's back problem could be healed, but that the recovery time could be a year or more. Anselmo refused, and began using heroin to completely numb his back pain.

Anselmo's on-stage remarks also became notorious during this time, and a Canadian DJ labeled some of his comments during a Montreal show as racist. Anselmo issued a public apology, stating that he was drunk and that his remarks were a mistake.

In 1995 Anselmo also began the first of numerous side projects called Down. Down was a supergroup consisting of Anselmo on vocals, Pepper Keenan and Kirk Windstein on guitars, Jimmy Bower on drums, and Todd Strange on bass. Down's first album, NOLA, was released on September 19, 1995. Pantera's own Rex Brown would later replace Strange on the group's second release, 2002's Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow, named after a famous line from Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven".

Pantera's next album, The Great Southern Trendkill (released on May 22, 1996), came out during grunge rock's dominance and at the onset of rap metal. It is often considered Pantera's "overlooked" album. Phil Anselmo recorded the vocals for this release in Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor's studio in New Orleans while the rest of the band members recorded in Texas, evidence of the continued distancing between Anselmo and the rest of the band. In comparison to the band's previous efforts, there was a heavier emphasis on vocal overdubbing in a somewhat "demonic" fashion. Drug abuse is a popular theme in Trendkill, as exemplified by tracks such as "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" became the album's only music video, and likewise, the only track from the album to appear on the band's compilation album.

Overdose, a live album, and more side projects (1996-2000)

On July 13, 1996, Anselmo overdosed on heroin an hour after a Texas homecoming gig. After his heart stopped beating for almost five minutes, paramedics gave Anselmo a shot of adrenaline and sent him to the hospital. Anselmo apologized to his bandmates the next night, but this did nothing to stop the increasing doubt within the band. The revelation of heroin use came as a shock to Vinnie Paul, and his brother, Dimebag Darrell, was embarrassed by Anselmo's actions, according to the guitarist's girlfriend. Anselmo says he would relapse two more times and guilt overcame him.

Some of the band's live performances were eventually compiled in its July 29, 1997 release, Official Live: 101 Proof, which included fourteen live tracks and two new studio-quality songs: "Where You Come From" and "I Can't Hide". Some of the tracks' titles were slightly changed from their originals (e.g., "Hostile" instead of "Fucking Hostile"), while a track like "Dom/Hollow" ("Domination" and "Hollow", respectively) merged two separate songs together for a live performance. Two weeks before the live album's release, Pantera received its first platinum album in Cowboys from Hell. Nearly four months later, both Vulgar Display of Power and Far Beyond Driven went platinum.

Around this time, Anselmo ventured into more side projects, such as playing guitars on Necrophagia's 1999 release Holocausto de la Morte, where he went as the alias "Anton Crowley". He also temporarily joined the black metal supergroup Eibon and contributed to that band's 2000 release. Another one of Anselmo's "Anton Crowley" projects was black metal band Viking Crown. The Abbott brothers and Rex Brown began their own heavy metal/country music crossover project, Rebel Meets Rebel, around the same time.

Final album and break-up (2000-2004)

Pantera returned to the recording studio with Anselmo in 2000 and cut its last album, Reinventing the Steel, which was released on March 14. Steel debuted at #4 on the Billboard 200 and included "Revolution Is My Name" and "Goddamn Electric", the latter of which featured a Kerry King performance recorded during Ozzfest in Dallas. "Revolution Is My Name" became the band's second nomination for Best Metal Performance in the 2001 Grammys.

The band once again returned to touring and visited the United States, South Korea, Australia, and Europe. The tour in Europe was cut short, however, due to the September 11, 2001 attacks. This would be the last time the members of Pantera performed together. Back home, the band planned to release its fourth home video in Summer 2002 and record another studio album later that year, but neither came about. Anselmo again engaged in numerous side projects, chief among them being Superjoint Ritual. A second Down album, Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow, was also released in 2002. Vinnie Paul claims that Anselmo told him he would take a year off following the events of September 11, but Anselmo's touring and record output for both Superjoint Ritual and Down contradicted this. The Abbott brothers were frustrated, and held out for a time, assuming Anselmo would return. However, according to Anselmo, taking a break from Pantera was a "mutual thing" between each of the band members.

The band officially broke up in 2003 when the Abbott brothers concluded that Anselmo had abandoned Pantera and would not return. The break-up of the band was not amicable and subsequently a war between the former bandmates was waged via the heavy metal and musical press. The Abbott brothers and Pantera crew members claimed that they tried numerous times to contact Anselmo over the phone to reorganize Pantera, but Anselmo maintains that they never called him. Caught up in the torrent was Rex Brown, who says "It was a bunch of he said, she said nonsense that was going on, and I wasn't going to get in the middle of it." Anselmo's comment in a 2004 issue of Metal Hammer magazine saying that "Dimebag deserves to be beaten severely" typified Pantera's internal conflicts; Anselmo insists that this comment was tongue-in-cheek.

In July 2004, Vulgar Display of Power went double-platinum, and The Great Southern Trendkill went platinum the next month.

Dimebag Darrell's murder (2004)

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, Darrell and Vinnie Paul's new band, began performing its first song. Before he was shot dead by police officer James Niggemeyer, Gale also killed fan Nathan Bray, 23; club employee Erin Halk, 29; and Pantera security official Jeff Thompson, 40. (For more on the shooting, see Dimebag Darrell.)

Anselmo flew to Texas to attend Darrell's funeral and waited five days in a hotel room for a response from Vinnie Paul. Anselmo says he called the drummer and anyone else he could get a hold of several times. Rita Haney, Dimebag Darrell's girlfriend, finally answered one of Anselmo's calls and said she would "blow [Anselmo's] head off" if he showed.

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

When asked in an interview with Crave Music if there was any chance of him reconciling with Anselmo, Vinnie Paul answered "Absolutely not. That's it." The former Pantera drummer has since begun work on Hell Yeah, a collaboration between him and members from Mudvayne and Nothingface.

Personality and influences

Pantera has toured with Ozzfest as main stage acts twice; the band played at the second annual Ozzfest in 1997 and the fifth Ozzfest in 2000. Over the course of their career, Pantera's members became known for their excessive partying and debauchery, even acquiring an official drink called the "Black Tooth Grin". The Black Tooth Grin (or "Black Tooth," alternatively), which was named after lyrics in the Megadeth song "Sweating Bullets", is a mixture of Crown Royal or Seagram 7 whisky (sometimes both are used together) and Coca-Cola.

Pantera also adopted a self-described "take no shit" attitude, epitomized in its popular song "5 Minutes Alone" off of Far Beyond Driven. According to drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott, during a show in San Diego, California, Anselmo was annoyed by a heckler and encouraged 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," to which Anselmo responded, "You just give me five minutes with that cat's dad and I'll whoop his ass." Thus, "5 Minutes Alone" was born out of that experience.

The band members take 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 title of The Great Southern Trendkill. On Pantera's 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, the band members 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", a slower, quieter song planned for the first Sabbath tribute album, Nativity in Black, that eventually became the final track on Far Beyond Driven. The band performed Sabbath's "Electric Funeral" on the second Nativity in Black. For the 2003 compilation album, The Best of Pantera: Far Beyond the Great Southern Cowboys' Vulgar Hits!, Pantera covered Sabbath's "Hole in the Sky". Pantera's affinity for Black Sabbath is also shown through the lyrics, "Your trust is in whiskey and weed and Black Sabbath," in "Goddamn Electric". The same song also mentions Slayer, one of the band's thrash metal influences.

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 for which it became famous. While Pantera's style change on Cowboys from Hell was released before Exhorder's debut, Slaughter in the Vatican, Exhorder self-released two demos in the late 1980s that a number of fans believe to be the real birth of the musical style Pantera popularized.

The All Music Guide points to several elements of Exhorder's debut that could potentially explain its 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 Exhorder's debut, along with the unsubtle album cover, "certainly didn't help [its] cause any."

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.

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

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. You're welcome guys. We might as well be cooking their dinner for them or pushing their little wheelbarrow to the bank for them.

Miscellanea

VH1's Behind the Music Pantera episode premiered May 11, 2006.

Several of Pantera's music videos were featured in Beavis and Butt-Head, an animated television series.

Pantera contributed a song called "Pre-Hibernation" to an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants. The main riff is similar to the one in "Death Rattle", a track off of Reinventing the Steel.

Cover versions of Pantera songs composed by Robert Prince were used in the making of Doom, a best selling first person shooter computer game from the 1990s.