Pantera

The Great Southern Trendkill

balancing act

Review Score:

(10/10)
The way I see it, Cowboys was the initial statement, a mix of metal and melody. Vulgar Display undid the melody and the singing, and introduced a newer harder Pantera, somehow in reaction to Metallica's de-volution. On Far Beyond Driven, they found a way to go even further in that reaction, rocking harded, meaner, even less melodic - to the point where the guitar was more percussive than melodic.

I think Pantera reached the limits of that genre, and on Trendkill, they backtrack, sylistically, which is fine with me. I was never a fan of the incessant screaming, but I will say that there is an air of exasperation that seems to slip in around the edges: not knowing what to do next. Since they had almost declared melody as being impure and trendy, it's hard to reintroduce it, which is a shame.

But the album works fine for me. I'd have no problem recommending this over any of the others as a first listen to Pantera. To me, it's equally enjoyable and it's clear that a lot of work went into the music.

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