PANTERA: Cowboys From Hell

Produced by Terry Date

Released: 1990

This album would prove to be a watershed moment for Pantera. Throughout the 80s, the band had slowly amassed a huge cult following for their wild party metal that was part Kiss and part Van Halen and bands like Metallica and Megadeth were numbered among their fans. By 1990, they were primed and ready for their major league breakthrough, and their fifth album would be the one to deliver.

After more than half a decade of playing shout-it-out-loud hair metal, Pantera had turned a corner with 1988's Power Metal album, going for a hard-edged approach very much like classic Priest; with Cowboys From Hell, they combined a patchwork of influences and styles and created an album that would start them on their way to true world dominance for the rest of the decade.

Cowboys From Hell is a remarkable and remarkably diverse album, littered with insanely catchy, crunchy riffs and killer drumming served up by an inseparable and indomitable guitar/drum combo that must rank amongst the very best ever in rock. Over this faultless framework, Phil Anselmo weaved the most varied vocal performance of his entire career.

While it's clear that Pantera has come a long way since the likes of Metal Magic and Projects in the Jungle here, it's also true that they're still developing their own identity, with some distinctive influences stamped as indelibly on the album as the tatts on Phil's arms. On "Shattered" they sound like Judas Priest and elsewhere there's a heavy Metallica influence, especially on tracks like "Heresy" when Phil sounds exactly like James Hetfield. After years of messing around with styles, however, it is on this album that Pantera came into its own.

The opening riff is an absolute monster, the type that gets instant neck snappin' headbanging going and stays in the consciousness even as others just as good follow in quick succession. Dimebag was already known as a riff-meister of considerable note, but this release was the consolidation of that reputation, and his flashy Van Halen inspired soloing was the icing on the cake.

Cowboys From Hell is a treasure trove of great metal moments: the complex polyrhythms peppered throughout "Psycho Holiday", the sludgy thrash of "Primal Concrete Sledge", the brooding melodies of "Medicine Man" and the thundering thrash of "Domination". Of course, no discussion of this album would be complete without mentioning the haunting "Cemetery Gates", a showcase both for Anselmo's incredible vocal range and Dime's poignant guitar playing. It's a deeply moving album centrepiece that stands as one of the most emotional pieces of music ever put together by a heavy metal band.

As good as Pantera's other 90s album would be, its arguable whether they topped the songwriting, catchiness and sheer consistency of Cowboys From Hell. Tracks like "The Sleep" and "Clash With Reality" are probably less notable than most of the others, but there are no real fillers here and 15 years after it's release, this remains one of the best metal albums of all.

1. Cowboys From Hell


2. Priaml Concrete Sledge


3. Psycho Holiday


4. Heresy


5. Cemetery Gates


6. Domination


7. Shattered


8. Clash With Reality


9. Medicine Man


10. Message in Blood


11. The Sleep


12. The Art of Shredding

Rating: 96%