Pantera

Vulgar Display Of Power

Vulgar Display of Power

Review Score:

(6/10)
Pantera's second available album is a complete departure from the sound of their earlier power-metal recordings. The aggressive, rough vocals from Phil Anselmo; the high guitar notes played by Darrel Dimond (his name back when this album was released); the jazzy bass of Rex; and the fast-paced drumming from Vinnie Paul make up the sound of "Vulgar Display Of Power".

None of the views expressed in this paragraph are intended by me to sound negetive or positive. These are more or less mere observations about the sound of this disc. Here, Pantera has obviously taken influence from 1980's thrash metal bands (i.e. Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth). They come off sounding like a mixture of the guitar tecnicality of Megadeth and the speeding thrash of Metallica, with more basic song structures. Phil Anselmo's lyrics deal with government and religious hypocrisy, being yourself, etc.

"Vulgar Display Of Power" kicks off perfectly with the first 5 tracks (excluding "This Love"). There is variety, headbanging guitar riffs, and insane vocals. Since these are the standout tracks of the entire 11 song album, I might as well give information on them. Starting with "Mouth For War", we are given a great catchy guitar-line that sounds like it would work for any metal-head house party. Although Phil Anselmo's vocals are too rough to make the lyrics catchy, the music is way too good to let that bother you. "A New Level" has a very simple song structure, but certainly stands out, with it's genius guitar-solos and heavy backdrop between Phil's verses. By the way, Darrel Dimond was at his peak for mind-blowing guitar-solos, and it helps even scattered moments of the weaker songs. Moving onto "Walk". It's repeated guitar-riff fails to be catchy for a good amount of time, but is good enough. The only other thing worth noting is the genius solo (which is controlled, but risky. You'll see what I mean when you hear it.) "Hostile" is a good song. It sounds like Metallica, but without any of the power. A lack of bass is apparent, and it just barely feel put together. But the speed should keep car racers and criminals of the such happy. Skipping past the horrible anti-love song "This Love" we come to the best song, "Rise". With it's blindingly fast main-riff and powerful vocals, it remains Pantera's best song.

Unfortunetely, the second half of the album is too weak. "No Good" is sickeningly basic and utterly boring to listen to. "Live In A Hole" is slow and dull. "Regular People (Conceit)" nearly rips off Metallica's "Disposable Heros" in the intro, and in the middle of the song, recalls the boredom of "No Good". "By Demons Be Driven" tries to sound intense, but the lack of ominous bass and goofy screaming of Phil, we are treated to a snore-fest. In the beginning, "Hollow" tries to sound melodic and 'haunting' but ends up sounding like an oldies hit from the 70's. Admittedly, the heavier part of it is refreshing, and a half-decent way to close the album.

Basically, this would be a perfect album if "This Love" and everything after "Rise" were edited. Then we'd have a classic EP. As it is though, "Vulgar Display of Power" suffers from severe inconsistancy.

Phil Anselmo's lyrics are arrogant. Whenever he speaks of the government, he sounds like a "anti-political redneck". All I have to say about this.

I wrote a review for this before, but since I wrote it, it sounds insincere. This is not a great album, it is average at best. Pantera's inability to be more than half-consistant hurts this album too much for me to recommend it.

It is difficult to enjoy Pantera if metal is not your only musical preference, so if you like Metallica and Megadeth, this is for you. If Fuel, Pearl Jam, or even something radically different compared to this like The Roots, this is not for you. It would be best for you to download the standouts above, and nothing else.

If you enjoy this album, you may also enjoy Metallica's "Kill Em' All", and Helmet's "Meantime".

Overall rating: 2.8 stars (technically rounded to 3, but not recommended)

P.S. This album is garbage compared to "Cowboys From Hell", which is highly recommended.

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