That’s what’s commonly overlooked - in 1990, when the band released Cowboys From Hell, glam was still king. Pantera could have forged ahead with the flavor of the hour instead, they grew out of trying to be something they weren’t, toughened up their sound, and changed metal to its very core. To some, that may appear trendy, but more than anything, it displays considerable self-awareness. They incorporated new influences, got turned on to bands like Metallica and Exhorder, and decided to ditch the window dressing. Pantera was growing up at the same time that metal was that they wrote jaunty songs about being a cat-eyed urban warrior-poet just means they were all-in from the very beginning.īut then, Pantera did something more bands needed to: they grew up. Phil Anselmo has always rocked a Venom shirt, and while that band may have sung about smashing dead chicks while Satan watched, they dressed like Hell’s gymnasts. That said - does it really surprise anyone that these dudes were so theatrical? It’s no secret that Dimebag worshipped Eddie Van Halen and Ace Frehley. Also, man, how confused does Vinnie Paul look? But on the back cover of 1985’s I Am The Night, e for yourself. When Power Metal was released thirty-one years ago, the band was still looking pretty poofy, but at least they were wearing black. Which is why it’s especially rough to see just how glammed out Pantera once were. Pantera, on the other hand, created music without a bit of twinkle, and looked like they couldn’t afford an entire shirt between the four of them. By the ‘90s, hair metal was all about style over substance, with songwriting taking a backseat to make-up and clothing. While millionaires like Axl Rose and Tommy Lee were making music about banging models and swimming with dolphins, these dudes from Arlington wrote huge, primal anthems to ditch weed and disillusionment. The reason fans are disheartened to find out Pantera used to be a glam band (hey, this journalist included when he first learned) is because their strength came from standing against all of hair metal’s shallow horseshit. And if any of these detractors ever bothered to listen to the band’s glam albums, they’d realize that some of those tracks totally slay. It shows that for all their muscular angst, they were also a band willing to progress, who were excited about metal since its infancy.
In truth, the fact that Pantera were a glam band only adds to their legend. But that opinion is shortsighted, and shows a lack of understanding about how growing up works. Plenty of snickering heshers like to point out Pantera’s Aqua Net days as proof that the guys who wrote The Great Southern Trendkill were actually super trendy. Above: Pantera from the back cover of 1984's Projects In The Jungle.
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