PANTERA Vulgar Display Of Power CD (1992)

There are two kinds of people: those who know exactly where they were when they first heard the opening riff of Walk, and those who are lying about it.

Released in 1992, Vulgar Display of Power is the album that buried glam metal and refused to apologize. Pantera had already shed their hair spray past by this point, but this record was the nail in the coffin, a skull-crushing pivot into groove metal that rewired what heavy could sound like. Dimebag's guitar tone alone has influenced more rigs than any gear demo ever could. Tracks like Mouth for War, This Love, and F***ing Hostile hit like a closed fist, which was apparently very much the point. Phil Anselmo was either at his absolute peak or beginning the slide depending on who you ask, but on wax he sounds like pure menace. This is the record that built the bridge between thrash and the wave of metal that followed, and you can still feel it in every Lamb of God record made since.

CD, full length album, US pressing, 1992 release.

Fans of: Sepultura, Lamb of God, Machine Head