Artist: Pantera
Label: Elektra
Release Date: 1996
Rating: 5 Skulls
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Title: The Great Southern Trendkill Artist: Pantera Label: Elektra Release Date: 1996
Rating: 5 Skulls |
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Reviewed by WAR:
Cast your mind back to the year 1996 if you can stand it. Not a particulary great year for heavy metal music. Grunge still has a relative stranglehold on the music-buying public and is seen as "heavy" music. Metallica does its best at annoying and destroying their core fans with the release of Load. Nu-metal and Electronica gain some steam and are starting to be discussed as relevant genres by the popular media . Celene Dion is the number one artist in the country. I could go on about the rise of some of the most bland music in history but let's touch on some of the bright spots instead.Tool releases Aenima, Sepultura releases Roots, and Pantera releases The Great Southern Trendkill. This album, while not seen as Pantera's best by many, is still my favorite Pantera album. From their opening salvo against the media and the artists and public that allow themselves to be dominated by it, Pantera let us know that they will continue to play the kind of music they want to hear, nothing more, nothing less. Not the most original sentiment to come from a heavy metal band but I think time has shown Pantera to be true to their word. At the time I was so grateful that this band was able to precipitate all my frustration against the music scene in a single aggressive rant of a song.
What strikes me most about this album, though, is the way that it has almost as many down-tempo, slow, chugging tunes as pure aggressive screamers. What some have described as "uneven" is what makes this album so great for me. Going from the calm before the storm vocals of "Suicide Note Pt. I" into the insane howls of "Suicide Note Pt. II" is just an amazing transition. The album has moments where you are given time to breathe and leisurely absorb the meaning and then Pantera slams you with a song like "Sandblasted Skin" that rips into your brain and makes you forget the last tune you heard.
I can listen to The Great Southern Trendkill over and over again. It is complex, brutal, melodic, engaging, frenetic, and represents a high watermark for the band. I know many folks will shake their head when they read this review but for all of you who dismissed this album when it first came out now is the time to dust it off and give it another listen. If you don't have this one and you are a Pantera fan run out and get it.
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