Pantera - The Rise & Fall

Pantera

No band affected the metal world in 1990’s than the heavy metal band, Pantera. Beginning with its 1990 album, Cowboys from Hell, the post-thrash band put to rest any and all bits and pieces of the ’80s metal scene.

Pantera’s beginnings date back to the early ’80s when the Texas-based band began releasing albums on the Metal Magic label. Originally, the band featured then-teenaged brothers, Darrell Abbott and Vinnie Paul Abbott as well as Rex Brown and Terrence Lee. They debuted in 1983 with Metal Magic, followed by Projects in the Jungle in 1984 and I Am the Night in 1985. Singer Phil Anselmo then replaced Glaze, and the group went on to record Power Metal, an album released in 1988 that eventually scored the group a deal with East West.

By the time Pantera unleashed Far Beyond Driven in 1994, they were the most popular metal band in the land, as the frenzy surrounding that Billboard chart-topping album testified.

At the height of their popularity and influence, Pantera began to self-destruct. Less than two months after the release of The Great Southern Trendkill (1996), Anselmo became a drug addict and overdosed on heroin after a homecoming concert in Texas, and as tensions rose between him and his fellow bandmembers, he began engaging with a growing list of side projects that kept him away from Pantera.

The Pantera officialiy ended on December 8, 2004, when guitarist Dimebag Darrell was murdered on-stage by a deranged fan. The tragedy was big news in the States, grabbing headlines everywhere the day afterward. For a sad moment that day, the spotlight shone once again on Pantera, who inspired a legion of extreme fans and one of the greatest and most influential metal bands ever.

Pantera’s career is based on nine studio albums, one live album, and one compilation album. They also released two extended plays (EPs), six singles, five video albums, eleven music videos, and two box sets.

The band’s major-label debut, Cowboys from Hell, peaked at number 27 on the U.S. Billboard’s chart, and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

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