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VINNIE PAUL - DRUMS
REX BROWN - BASS, ACOUSTIC GUITAR AND PIANO “CEMETERY GATES”
PHIL ANSELMO - VOCALS
DIAMOND DARRELL - GUITARS
TERRY DATE/PANTERA - PRODUCERS, ENGINEERS, MIXERS
MATT LANE - ASSISTANT ENGINEER
MATT GILILLAND - ASSISTANT ENGINEER
HOWIE WEINBERG - AUDIO MASTERING
RECORDED AT PANTEGO SOUND STUDIO STARTING FEBRUARY 1990
RELEASED JULY 24, 1990
Terry Date already had a fairly extensive resume in the metal world before he ever hooked up with Pantera. He’d already worked with Metal Church, Chastain, Fifth Angel, Sanctuary, The Accused, Dream Theater, Soundgarden and Overkill, with Sir Mix A Lot mixed in for good measure. He would go on to work with Pantera through The Great Southern Trendkill. After beginning his relationship with Pantera he would go on to work with Dark Angel, Screaming Trees, 27-7 Spyz, Fishbone, Mindfunk, Prong, Deftones, White Zombie, Helmet, Handsome, Incubus, Staind, Limp Bizkit, Slipknot, Ozzy, Korn, Soulfly, Smashing Pumpkins, Bring Me The Horizon, Havok, Slayer and many others.
Matt Lane as worked on a wide variety of projects throughout his career, music, spoken word and others. He’s worked with Fifth Angel, Overkill, Fates Warning, Pixies, Gary Moore, Drive By Truckers and many more.
Howie Winberg as mastered so albums it’s ridiculous. 27-7 Spyz, 3 Doors Down, Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, Andrew Dice Clay, Angelo Badalamenti Twin Peaks, Anthrax, Beastie Boys, Bjork, Blind Melon, Blues Traveler, Butch Walker, Cheap Trick, Chevelle, The Clash, Clutch, Cyclone Temple, The Cult, Damageplan, Def Leppard, Dream Theater, Eddie Money, Extreme, Faith No More, Fear Factory, Helmet, Herbie Hancock, James Brown, Metallica, Motorhead, My Sisters Machine, Nirvana, Rush, Scorpions, Sepultura, Sevendust, Slayer and so many others it’s ridiculous.
TRACK LISTING:
1 Cowboys From Hell 4:07
2 Primal Concrete Sledge 2:13
3 Psycho Holiday 5:19
4 Heresy 4:46
5 Cemetery Gates 7:02
6 Domination 5:04
7 Shattered 3:21
8 Clash With Reality 5:16
9 Medicine Man 5:14
10 Message In Blood 5:10
11 The Sleep 5:47
12 The Art Of Shredding 4:20
TOTAL LENGTH: 57:39
CERTIFICATIONS:
U.S. / GOLD / 9-14-1993 500,000 SALES
U.S. / PLATINUM / 7-16-1997 1,000,000 SALES
BILLBOARD 200 / 2010 / #117
#11 ON OCTOBER 2006 GUITAR WORLD LIST OF 100 GREATEST GUITAR ALBUMS ALL TIME
#85 METAL-RULES.COM BEST METAL ALBUM OF ALL TIME
#19 IGN MOST INFLUENTIAL METAL ALBUM OF ALL TIME
CREDITED AS THE ALBUM THAT DEFINED GROOVE METAL
Such an original album for the time. It was a big mix of everything. Classic metal stylings, a bit of glam still, tasty thrash nuggets all over the place,and that undeniable Texas swagger and fucking groove. Everyone was technically proficient with their instruments but knew how to hold back and do what was right for the songs. No Vinnie Vincentitus on display here.
Cowboys From Hell: The title track pretty much sets the album up. The kink of subdued little intro and then it all just kicks in. It was a different kind of heavy, and then the groove smacks you in the face. I think the fact that the vox were more understandable than most made it all the more relatable. The vox were all over the place on this one, sningy, growly and screamy. The solo riff has a more classic metal vibe, kinda anthem like, I always liked that Vinnie’s drums beats were more interesting that most, not just always straight ahead.
Primal Concrete Sledge; Just holy shit! Totally different than just about anything we’d heard at that point. A gut punch right in the fuckin’ face. Another difference for the time was that it was downtuned. Then the fuckin’ breakdown happens, never fails to make me want to break shit.
Psycho Holiday; Nice thrashy intro, then it went kinda heavy, good time party metal. I liked the toned back but memorable chorus riff. The solo section always gave me a VH kind of vibe the way the bass and drums are bouncing around behind the solo. And then it closes with the tasty grooving thrashy riff.
Heresy: Starts out with that thrashy as shit opening riff and then lays down the fuckin’ groove. LICK MY SAC! Then one of my favorite Pantera riffs ever and the 3:30 mark with that kick ass bass thonk at 3:46.
Cemetery Gates: Brilliant maybe? Longest Pantera song ever. Kind of a throwback maybe to their previously less stylings. It lets all us tough guys let our inner pretty ballad type selfs out for a few minutes and not be ashamed of it because it still brought the heavy and wasn’t a sappy love song. Back when Phil could actually still sing. Don’t forget the epic high pitched vox guitar trade offs at the end.
Domination: Pretty much my favorite song on the album. Love the intro riff, same riff played four different ways, always like that kind of thing for some reason. Then that heavy ass verse groove hits and makes we wanna break shit, but stays catchy at the same time. The break before the solo has a kind of Priest vibe. Rex’s bass line and tone behind the solo on this one are spot on. The solo rips. And then the end groove with the left and right panning and the ending solo? Fucking brilliant. Yeah. Da shit!
Shattered: Thrashy rapid fire intro. Could be a Painkiller era Priest song with the verse riff and vocals. Had a good time rock n’ metal type solo with a nice stacotto finish.
Clash With Reality: Heavy rock kind of intro, then the badass Texas groove kicks in, great song all the way around.
Medicine Man: This is one that I think could have been left off the album. Kills the flow in my opinion, just sorta meanders around and doesn’t ever seem to really go anywhere, just my lame opinion.
Message In Blood: Nice groovy intro, then the off kilter ping pong pinchies are cool. Might be the only other sing i might would cut from the album. Better than Medicine Man but still not quite up to par with the rest of the album to me. The solo break is just meh to me.
The Sleep: Back to kicking ass! Tasty classic thrash acoustic intro and then the heavy dissonant groove kicks in. Nice melodic chorus and then back to the acoustic bridge part. The solo is nice and classy, not over the top, love the riff behind the solo, very classic metal
The Art Of Shredding: Great driving intro with the bass & drums, the bass tone is awesome as it usually was. The cool melodic guitar part and then the fucking face melter riff kicks in. It has a nice groovy break down, then fast as shit trash riff, then the classic Pantera signature groove riff kicks in at 2:45. May be my 2nd favorite song on the album.
