PANTERA The Great Southern Trendkill CD (1996)

The title is a threat and a manifesto. By 1996 Pantera had watched nu-metal start to swallow heavy music whole, and Phil Anselmo, recording his vocals in a separate studio from the rest of the band due to tensions that would eventually tear the whole thing apart, responded by making the most vicious record of their career.

The Great Southern Trendkill is Dimebag Darrell at maximum velocity, Vinnie Paul hitting like a car crash, and a front man who sounds genuinely unhinged in a way that doesn't feel performative. Where Vulgar Display of Power was a sledgehammer, this is something more jagged and unpredictable. Tracks like 13 Steps to Nowhere and Suicide Note Pt. II are groove metal pulled apart at the seams. It didn't do the numbers of its predecessors and it doesn't care. This is the Pantera record for people who think Pantera's earlier work was too comfortable.

Full length album on CD. Released 1996, USA. Groove metal, heavy metal.

Fans of: Metallica, Machine Head, Sepultura, White Zombie, Down, Crowbar