I’ll never forget the first time I heard Pantera. The song was “Cemetary Gates” from the Cowboys From Hell release, as I would come to find out. Hearing it in 1990 on a local station was a turning point in radio, I think. Never had I heard that kind of dissonance, melded with a soaring/screaming/melodic voice. It also was a turning point in music.
The late ‘80s was all about hair. Yes, Pantera did its “hair” thing before rising to prominence, but with its first release, singer Phil Anselmo, guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell, drummer Vinnie Paul and bassist Rex helped resuscitate heavy music at a time when hair-metal bands were going out of style faster than Nikki Sixx’s hairdo.
Now, over a decade later, the self-proclaimed “cowboys from hell” are still selling a lot of records — without the benefit of MTV, VH1 or radio.
“Our success is because of the fact that we took our music to the people,” Paul said in an interview with the Daily Lobo. “We’ve never relied on MTV to promote us or anything. We did it ourselves.”
And guess what? Pantera is heavier than ever and has just received its fourth Grammy nomination for the song “Revolution Is My Name,” from their latest chunk of thrash, Reinventing the Steel, which saw Paul and Dimebag at the production controls for the first time in Pantera’s career.
“I previously had co-produced some of our other albums, so I definitely understood the difference between drummer and producer,” Paul said. “And I knew when to step into each role. Terry (Date, long-time producer) knew that at some point we’d like to make an album on our own; we just decided it was the right time to do it.”
Paul said Pantera’s ability to use its own personal studio to record Steel helped with the creative process.
“We really had a comfortable working situation,” Paul said. “We took our time with it. We had time to write, rewrite or whatever needed to be done.”
Pantera has never been shy about people knowing that the group loves to party, and one is not likely to find Evian water and a vegetable tray backstage at a concert. More likely would be Coors Light, Jack Daniels, Crown Royal, Seagrams 7 and Zig Zag papers, all of which the band proclaims to “use and abuse.” Paul said the lost art of a rock ’n’ roll tour is alive and well with Pantera.
“I don’t like to stay at home — I like to hit the stage and after the show hang out and have fun with everything that goes along with a tour,” Paul said. “A lot of bands don’t find that enjoyable. They want to sit on their butts and play Nintendo and stuff. We came from the old school, where the tour is a huge experience.”
Speaking of tours, Pantera begins its tour this year in Albuquerque tonight. The tour was delayed because of a rib injury to Anselmo, but Paul said the band holds a special spot in its heart for the Duke City.
“It just seemed like every time we start a West Coast leg, we start there,” Paul said. “It’s a great place to play, and we’ve always had fun there.”
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Last year, the band put its monetary sources to good use in establishing The Club, a nightclub in its hometown of Dallas, Texas, that specializes in “adult entertainment.” The band even ran a promotion with a release of Steel that gave one lucky fan a listening party at The Club with some of the fan’s closest friends, and of course, Pantera.
“It’s a really good investment,” Paul said. “The Club is the finest adult entertainment establishment in the United States, so it’s not only a good sound investment, but bands that come through here have got to make a stop in, or they’ve missed out on the finest that Dallas has to offer.”
Paul said in addition to Pantera, members also have other musical side projects to keep them busy when there’s down time.
“Me, Dime and Rex have a side project with (country singer) David Allan Coe,” Paul said. “We also put together a side band for New Year’s Eve called Gasoline, where we played some of our songs, some Ted Nugent and Thin Lizzy. We all do different things.”
Paul could hardly hide his eagerness for heading out on a tour that will take Pantera across the nation and to Korea, and he also had a message for those who will attend the Albuquerque show.
“Be ready for anything; with the early shows there’s a lot of excitement,” Paul said. “We’ll rehearse the material, but at the beginning there’s still a few fuck-ups to deal with.”
Pantera plays the Albuquerque Convention Center tonight with Soulfly, Morbid Angel and Nothingface opening the show.
