Great Southern Trendkill - Pantera

Unlike many Pantera fans this is probably my favorite album. Not only has it got the groove and power of previous releases but it has more soul, better constructed songs and some of the best production of any metal album. Producer Terry Date manages to capture the huge low end and high gain sounds perfectly to achieve a brutal wall of sound. From the outset this album delivers the groove but there's more to it. Dimebag is able to show more of himself and writes songs that meander and move rather than just relying on one riff. The contrast between the thrash of the title track and the powerful, mellow tones and difficult subject matter of Suicide Note Pt1 ...  Read the complete review

It’s something of a cliché that any and all reviews of Pantera will focus on the extent of their heaviness in comparison to whichever movement of ‘nu’ metal is impressing the kids at the time, but this is difficult to avoid due to the band’s elitist, f***-everything attitude being constantly shoved down our eardrums. Nowhere is this more prominent than in their penultimate album, 1996’s The Great Southern Trendkill. Proud of their distance from mainstream trends, Pantera would have you believe that this album is the peak of their career, a violent aural assault that would surely crush the skull of any unenlightened bystander who happened to overhear its full force ...  Read the complete review

For all the ignorant little mini moshers out there, Pantera are a metal band. A real metal band. A HEAVY metal band (no, not big hair and power ballads but stompin', fist shakin', headbanging, screaming, raging, moshing redneck METAL). Pantera have balls. Pantera are truly heavy (as in low pitched, rage soaked, riffage driven, vibrations-that-make-your-balls-ache heavy). Disturbed are not heavy. Linkin Park are not heavy. Your 'Nu' metal bands do not have balls. Pantera have balls! After a listen to this you will never again be tempted to refer to the Nu metal curse as either heavy, metal, hardcore or alternative. Take note. This album ...  Read the complete review