Every one of Pantera's four major-label albums have one thing in common: as time has gone on, Pantera has become increasingly heavier, distancing themselves by miles from their days as a borderline glam band back in the mid-eighties. Their latest album, The Great Southern Trendkill, is no exception.
Produced by Terry Date and drummer Vinnie Paul, The Great Southern Trendkill is the kind of album you would expect from a band as their fourth release. You can easily tell the growth of the band from their first major album, 1990's Cowboys From Hell, which shows in every area from overall sound to songwriting ability.
As a band, Pantera has grown tighter as they have cruised a path towards hardcore metal. Pantera has never fallen into the trap of having one band member eclipse the rest of the group in terms of perceived musicianship, a fact which has shown itself time and again in their ability to showcase songs instead of music.
The songs on The Great Southern Trendkill tend to be more story-oriented than some of their earlier attempts, the prime example being "Suicide Note Part 1" and "Suicide Note Part 2". In "Part 1", we're being told "would you look at me now/can't you see I'm a man/with the scars on my wrists/to prove I'll try again" - while in "Part 2", the same character informs us that what he's doing is not for "family, nor pre-judge army/this is for me and me only/cowards only try it". Basically, "Suicide Note" is the perfect example of a concept song as opposed to running the whole concept out for an album - in which case the usual result is that the concept itself becomes boring and worn-out by about the fifth song.
But more than anything else, many of the songs on The Great Southern Trendkill aren't about telling you a story as they are vehicles for the band to vent some of their aggression on those at whom they're particularly ticked off. And first and foremost on this list is the media - whom vocalist Phil Anselmo promptly tells "fuck your magazine and fuck your plastic scene" on the album's title track.
Many times, by this point in a band's career, their albums aren't really the kind of thing you would let someone hear to get them into a band. But for someone wanting to get into Pantera, playing anything other than their latest work would be a wasted effort. This is band that is still evolving after over a decade in the industry in a genre so ripe for stagnant bands, and it's going to be interesting to see where they go to next.
