This is another game changer album. Even though the sounds and tones were hinted at on the previous release, Cowboys From Hell, it was this album that changed everything. The sheer brutality and power of this album is immense. The production and mixing by Terry Date is epic, the drum sound (especially the kick drum) of Vinnie Paul was, and still is, copied by every metal drummer around, and then there was Dime. The best guitarist of his generation! All of this was achieved in a style that would not alienate old school rockers from modern day metal heads.
This is Pantera’s sixth studio album. The first four were glam metal, and the fourth, Power Metal, was the beginning of a change as Phil Anselmo replaced original vocalist Terry Glaze. There is not one second of this record that is not awesome. From the first notes of Mouth For War, till the last breath of Hollow, this album deserves your attention. This is all not flat out death metal speed, hell no, this album has groove and swing. Listen to Walk! It grooves and swings as well as being metal as hell. Fucking Hostile is a seriously groovy track that makes you want to bounce off the walls. This Love starts real slow but builds into an epic tune – possibly my favourite on the album. There is even a clue to events on the next album with By Demons Be Driven, which Anslemo said was the most extreme on the album and was where they were headed musically.
Known for their hard drinking and fast living, it would take a drastic and tragic turn, as Dime would be shot on stage by a crazed fan, Vinnie would die with his heart basically exploding, Rex would have a liver transplant, and Anslemo would become a mental wreck and his voice destroyed from screaming his way through everything he does. It’s a shame the band ended the way it did as they were one of the best metal bands ever. You don’t need me to tell you that you should own this as you should already have it.
10/10 from The Grooveman.
