The Real Pantera 2 on purevolume™

Metal / Metal / Metal

I noticed that there was a disturbing lack of Pantera on purevolume and decided that I should start a profile to help fill that gap. This is the second one I have made, cuz one just isn't enough. I am just a fan. A HUGE fan. Just thought I should explain what's goin' on here first.

This page is about Pantera. It's to help people see what they're about as best as I can show, and to introduce them to those who do not know about them. They were and still are one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott and his brother, drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott started the band in 1981. They played what can only be described as hair metal (ugh) until 1990. This was the year that "Cowboys From Hell" was released. From that point on, they helped to change metal and save it from the glammed up crap that it had partially become. They went on to release 4 more successful studio albums and 1 live album. Vulgar Display of Power in 1992, Far Beyond Driven in 1994, The Great Southern Trendkill in 1996, Official Live 101 Proof in 1998, and Reinventing the Steel in 2000.

Vulgar Display of Power, released in 1992, brought with it the first metal single to ever debut at #1, Mouth for War.

In 1994 Far Beyond Driven debuted at #1 on The Billboard Charts. I'm Broken, Far Beyond Driven's fourth track, was nominated for Best Metal Performance at the 1995 Grammys.

The Great Southern Trendkill was released in 1996 and, sadly enough (as it is my favorite Pantera album), it is often regarded as the "overlooked" Pantera album. It's only music video was for Drag the Waters, which is also the only song from 'Trendkill to be included on their compilation album. The solo in Floods, the seventh song on the album, is often regarded (by fans, fellow musicians, and critics) as one of the greatest guitar solos ever recorded.

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". 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.

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

In 2003 the band officially broke up because Phil Anselmo (vocals) was using, and had overdosed twice on, heroin. He had become distant from the rest of the band, doing many side projects and even recording the vocals for The Great Southern Trendkill in Louisiana while the rest of the band were left to record the rest of the album, with the vocal tracks sent to them and without Phil, in Texas.

In July 2004, Vulgar Display of Power went double-platinum, and The Great Southern Trendkill went platinum the next month. After the break up Phil continued his various side projects, Rex Brown virtually disappeared from the music scene, and the Abbott brothers, Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell, founded their new band, Damageplan.

On December 8, 2004, "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, and 3 others were murdered when a gunman, 25-year-old Nathan Gale, took to the stage and began shooting during the band's show at the Alrosa Villa, a Columbus, Ohio, USA nightclub. Columbus police officer James Niggemeyer soon arrived at the scene and shot the attacker, killing him. Damageplan was on a world tour at the time, and according to guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell, a new album probably would have been released sometime in 2005. The band was playing the song Breathing New Life, from their first and only album, New Found Power, when Gale opened fire.

Anselmo flew to Texas to attend Dimebag'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 your [Anselmo's] head off" if he showed.

On August 11, 2006, a new project involving Vinnie Paul (in addition to members of Mudvayne and Nothingface) surfaced. The band's name is Hellyeah and their debut album was released on April 10, 2007, on Epic Records. Just over a week later, Bob Zilla joined the band as their new bassist, after Jerry Montano left due to "personal reasons".

Both Anselmo and Brown have reunited with Down (Anselmo's main side project), and will be supporting Heaven and Hell and Megadeth on their upcoming tour.