Pantera
Far Beyond Driven

The Pantera, as I believe all of you know, were one of the most important metal bands of the 90s; and "Far Beyond Driven" is perhaps their masterpiece, their peak of success. Maybe, but one thing is certain: in 1994 the four Texans were pissed off and it was palpable.

Two years after the great "Vulgar Display Of Power" from 1992, the album that made them famous worldwide, "Far Beyond Driven" is released, a concentration of rage and aggression, a metal/trash that sparks the urge to scream and jump without pause; all naturally in pure Pantera style. The ingredients are always the same: the amazing voice of Phil Anselmo, the granite riffs of Dimebag Darrel, Rex's bass, and the great (in every sense) Vinnie Paul's drums.

Just from the cover, you can understand the intentions the album will offer us (after that of "Vulgar..." they wanted to continue the trend of splatter covers). The album opens with "Strength Beyond Strength," kicking off with a really furious and intense metal core rhythm. "Becoming" is 3 minutes of great metal, a rhythmic crescendo that starts from the beginning to its end then lowers in the chorus and starts again; now there's my favorite, "5 Minutes Alone" represents the best of Pantera and is, in my opinion, one of the best tracks on the CD (if not the best); concluding this great first quartet is "I'm Broken" (also released as a single), the usual concentrate of pure Panterametal. "Good Friends And A Bottle Of Pills" is the shortest and in my opinion the strangest song on the album, in the slow verses Phil seems to talk about having hooked up with someone's girl, and then when least expected, he starts screaming the short refrain, strange but beautiful. We are perfectly in the middle of the CD, "Hard Lines, Sunken Cheeks" has a dark intro that instead is a time bomb that unloads all the Texans' rage on our ears that seems not to want to stop anymore, at least until the refrain arrives to calm their madness. "Slaughtered" is a punch to the stomach, releasing power from every pore, pure rage without compromise, raw anger at a molecular level, I don't think there's anything else to add; "25 Years" musically is supported in the verses by a heartbeats riff, the last minute and a half is spectacular, an engaging tempo change that gives a faster and angrier rhythm ("we're fuckin' you back!" great!). "Shedding Skin," simply beautiful, a slow introductory verse that deceives, and again here, another spectacular tempo change at the end, more granite-like and increasingly amazing, and Phil proves to be increasingly great. "Use My Third Arm" is a fire-spewing bomb, a spectacular opening that will be a fitting prelude to the fury of the entire piece, a brief stop towards the middle, and then the bomb resumes spewing fire; "Throes Of Rejection" with its power (expressed especially towards the end) leads us towards the conclusion. Closing it is "Planet Caravan," a cover of the Black Sabbath song (Pantera's favorite band) from the album "Paranoid"; the only "ballad" in the entire album.

A masterpiece; undoubtedly an important testimony of a historic metal band. Pantera rulez!