Pantera started life as some kinda glam rock band from Arlington, Texas, back in the early 80s, but really hit their stride when they brought in Phil Anselmo on vocals in the late 80s and started moving away from the hairspray territory. These Texas dudes, the Abbott brothers Vinnie Paul on drums and Dimebag Darrell on guitar, plus Rex Brown on bass, basically invented what they called “groove metal” and ended up selling something like 20 million records worldwide. Not bad for a bunch of guys who started off sounding more like Poison than the metal gods they became.
Vulgar Display of Power dropped in February 1992 and man, this thing just hits different. Coming off their breakthrough Cowboys from Hell, the band decided to get even heavier and more focused, and they nailed it. The album’s got this perfect balance of crushing heaviness and actual songwriting that made it accessible without being dumbed down. You got tracks like “Walk”, probably their biggest hit, which is just this simple, infectious groove that gets stuck in your head for days, and “Mouth for War” which opens the whole thing with this statement of intent that lets you know you’re in for something special. Then there’s “This Love,” which shows Phil’s range from guttural screaming to these almost melodic parts, and it’s got one of Dimebag’s most emotional solos.
What makes this album work so well is that groove element, they slowed things down from typical thrash but made it heavier somehow, and Vinnie Paul’s drumming and Rex Brown’s bass lock together like they’re one instrument. The whole thing debuted at number 44 on the Billboard 200, which was pretty impressive for a metal album in 1992 when grunge was taking over everything. It went double platinum and is still considered one of the most influential metal albums of the 90s. If you want to understand how metal evolved from the 80s into what it became in the 90s and beyond, this album is basically required listening, it’s heavy as hell but catchy enough that you’ll find yourself humming these riffs days later.