What if Pantera never broke up?
 

I've rediscovered my love for Pantera when I had some money in my iTunes account and bought two of their later albums. While I was listening to them, I began wondering what they would be like today if they had never broken up.

Pantera is one of those rare bands that I felt got better and better with each album. Everyone praises the **** out of Cowboys From Hell and Vulgar Display of Power, and while those are great albums, I feel that they were just the start. Far Beyond Driven and The Great Southern Trendkill are some of the heaviest metal albums I've ever heard, and Reinventing the Steel is up there in quality as well.

Three years after that last album, they broke up in 2003 over internal band conflicts, and everyone went off to do their own side projects. Most notable of these was Dimebag and Vinnie going off to form Damageplan. However, less than a year after their first album, the tragic shooting of Dimebag occurred, forever preventing a reunion.

Even though they broke up before Dimebag's death, I do sometimes wonder what they would be like had they stuck it out and stayed together. Phil was always very anti-mainstream when it came to the music industry, especially during the later albums, so he would probably be even more pissed off at the trends today, resulting in some very angry music. Then again, they could have aged horribly and become extremely played out and generic. It really could have gone either way. Maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part that I really wish they were still together.

What do you think?

I think they would be writing top-notch songs and touring around the world. Rick Graham would be happier than he actually is and heavy metal wouldn't have passed away (I don't think it's popped off entirely, but let's admit lots of people seem to have decided to lay off this majestic kind of music).

I've asked myself that same question a hundred times concerning Buddy Holly and Randy Rhoads. John Lennon and dime bag Darrell both are victims of unnecessary deaths and tremendous loss to the community of Music.

I watched and old video of Pantera performing Cowboys from hell the other day and Dimebags performance with dynamics on tape clearly established him as the frontman in stage presence.

My guess would be if Damageplan we're here today, they would at the least be giving Korn a fight in the polls/charts of popularity.

Any number of things, Dimebag might have been killed by Nathan Gale anyways. This guy was legitimately bat**** insane, he thought Pantera was reading his mind.

Who knows, what would Jimi Hendrix have done if he could have gotten his **** together and quit drinking/doing drugs. Maybe he would have made some groundbreaking albums in the 70s, maybe he would have sold out and made disco records, who knows. I really don't care much for Reinventing The Steel, so I'm not so sure it wasn't time for them to break up.

I don't have as much anticipation for artist like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Keith Moon or John Bonham for example that more less, committed suicide versus accidental.

Lamb of god would have never existed :P

I'd listen to a bit more groove metal.

What if Phil Anselmo had never been born?

:laughing:

I see what you did there.

Well if they stopped being such a cheesy thrash metal band it might be worth them still being around. But I have a feeling they would of went down the same road as Metallica did.

*cheesy groove metal band.

Groove metal is a pretty disliked metal genre in general, but I like Pantera in small dosis. I don't really want to hear much more of the genre though. I'd rather listen to thrash.

I bet phil would probably od and be the first member to die and dime and Vinnie would have made a few more damage plan albums.

They're pretty much both.

I really liked VDoP and all of FBD except "Good Friends and a Bottle of Pills".

Everything before and after, feh.

Groove metal is just slowed down thrash metal. I never thought they were very boring, especially on A Vulgar Display Of Power or Far Beyond Driven.

They made that kind of music popular again, and there were a bunch of thrash metal bands that adopted the groove metal style to become more accessible.

Yeah I guess so. There are a few songs that sound quite thrash-y like Strength Beyond Strength and Primal Concrete Sledge, but yeah I guess you can pin them further down as groove metal in general that lean towards the thrashier side compared to a lot of groove metal bands. Would explain the reason I don't like them.

I don't know if Pantera would have gone down such a road... but I do think Metallica have gone down an embarrassing, deplorable and unspeakable road lately. Retirement for those lads right away!

Fixed

Blimey, I might agree. I thought I did like Metallica a little... but I realise that not only do I have an aversion toward them, but their music might get me all riled up as well.
"Hit the Lights", sung by D. Mustaine, was a nice one, though, wasn't it?

I actually asked myself this once, and honestly, I could see Pantera at least embracing some metalcore elements as time went on. It's best that Pantera ended when it did, or else we'd probably see bad cop/good cop vocals plaguing all of their songs, with screamed verses and clean choruses, or vice versa. Basically Lamb of God but with singing too.

Pantera, much like Nirvana, is generally regarded as a great band because they quit before they started to pump out ****ty songs. Some may not be fans of the later albums, but they weren't awful.

I don't get why everyone hates reinventing the steel.
I love the opening track, hellbound. It's one of my favourites, something about it makes me go ''**** yeah!'' when he screams ''HEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLBOOOOUND!'' while that riff plays in the background.