Pantera carved a piece of heavy metal history

Pantera is well known for being a heavy metal band with roots in the state of Texas. Vinnie Paul and Darrel Abbott were the two brothers who created the glam rocker group. Vinnie was the drummer while Darrell was the band’s lead guitarist. It would be Darrell who garnered the most attention in future years for being one of the best guitarists in the world of music.

Between 1981 and 1986, there were a few little-known rockers who had short careers with Pantera. These included Donny Hart on vocals; bassist Tommy Bradford; Terry Glaze on rhythm guitar and vocals and Matt L’Amour also had a brief turn on lead vocals. The 1982 lineup was joined by Rex Brown on bass, and Phil Anselmo joined the team in 1987 as leader and vocalist. These 4 men would become a great success and would form the formation of the Pantera band that would last 16 years.

The group borrowed much of their early sound and style from bands like Van Halen and Kiss. Their performances included spandex, wild hairstyles, and trendy makeup. This style would change over the years as the band found their own unique sound. At the end of the 80’s, Pantera was a key piece of what was being called Groove Metal. This musical style was actually a subgenre of thrash. The 1990 release “Cowboys from Hell” received critical acclaim and led to Pantera’s future as one of the highest rated heavy metal groups of the ’90s.

However, the members of the Pantera gang had their problems; and these included drug overdoses and missed concert dates. At first, the sounds and styles of the Pantera band members were much more popular with fans in the southern states. In fact, their first performances were only seen in Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. They were commonly known as the White Trash Metal band, which was considered high praise by the band members. Still they wanted to reach even higher.

Although the band had spent almost 10 years with very little musical respect from critics, it was in the early ’90s that their rise to stardom began. Now many music experts applaud them for being one of the greatest of all Heavy Metal groups. Today, select Pantera merchandise is highly sought after by avid collectors and die-hard fans. VH1 placed them at number 45 on their list of the 100 Greatest Hard Rock Artists and MTV ranks them in the top 5 heavy metal bands.

Anselmo and Darrell Abbott had well-known substance abuse issues, and in the mid-’90s, Anselmo began having a breakdown. Fights with the group began to escalate over his drug addiction. Heroin became one of Phil Anselmo’s mainstays and this hurt both the band and his own reputation. No one could know what he might do or say during performances or rehearsals.

Finally, in 2001, the band went on hiatus and no reunion of this Fabulous Foursome ever took place. Pantera’s official end as a band was in 2003 and Anselmo and Vinnie Paul Abbott had a highly publicized war of words over who and what was to blame for the band’s collapse. Darrell Abbott was killed in 2004 when he was shot by a mentally unbalanced fan during an onstage performance in Columbus, Ohio. Darrell was performing with his brother Vinnie and a new band they had named Damageplan.

Among the musical contributions of the heavy metal group Pantera are the fight song Dallas Stars and the following recordings.

– Magic Metal in 1983

– Projects in the jungle released in 1984

– I am the night released in 1985

-Power Metal-1988

– Cowboys from Hell-1990

– Vulgar display of power in 1992

– The Great Southern Tendency in 1996

– Reinventing Steel in 2000