Pantera

Reinventing The Steel

Return To The Basics--Damn It's Good They're Back!

Review Score:

(10/10)
After the lackluster, profanity-laced Far Beyond Driven and the utter noise-fest of Trendkill, Pantera had bitten the hand that feeds. They had attempted to make each album successively heavier than the last, so they wouldn't sell out. Unfortunately, the albums escalated into 50-minute cacophonies. When 101% Live Proof came out, their fate was sealed, with softer tracks like Hollow and Cemetery Gates being butchered by the singing being replaced with Phil's recent being-beaten-to-death screaming habit. Or so some thought...

What people passed over were the two studio tracks included. They showed focus, catchiness, and POWER, all last seen on Vulgar Display. Did Pantera discover the secret?

Oh, Yeah!
Reinventing the Steel's title is misleading. Pantera are back doing the same old thing over again, except, they found a new way to become heavier. Already established as one of the leading thrash/grind metal bands on the scene, they discovered new ways to deepen the bruising nature of their music without sounding like they were tossing their respective instruments out onto a highway and recording the trucks run them over. RIS isn't able to light a flame to VDOP, their masterpiece, and CFH, their influential classic--but it is a good return. It isn't blasphemous like Slayer's newest, Pantera haven't sold out like Metallica, broken up like Megadeth, or faded away in disppointment like Sepultura. This album begins with a bang("Hellbound"), and Phil screams the chorus like a demon(he couldn't break the habit). Other awesome tracks are "Revolution Is My Name," which has an addictive main riff, "Death Rattle," with a death metal part at the end, and "Uplift," an all-around good song. The other tracks are also worth a listen. All deep-fried 100% 10-Ton Texas METAL!!! Purchase if you dare...

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