Pantera
Reinventing The Steel

THE REVIEW

The Pantera, along with Sepultura and Anthrax, have always been my favorite thrash/groove band, and albums like "Far Beyond Driven" and "The Great Southern Trendkill" have seeped into the fibers of my body from the first listen. They have never disappointed me, I swear; even back in their glam days, they fascinated me. Once they reached "Cowboys from Hell" onwards, I loved them.

But with this damned album, I can't understand what might have happened — perhaps the ongoing tensions within the band, the atmosphere of breaking up, I don't know... the fact remains that "Reinventing the Steel" is so damn strange that I can't absorb it as "good". It almost feels like a somewhat forced album.

The tracks are 10 and... damn, I get bored! They all sound a bit the same; it seems they've lost the necessary tightness to create that fantastic groove, so damn catchy and rough. Surely contributing to this is Anselmo's absence as he dedicated more time to his side projects (notably the legendary Down) than to the band from Pantego; it will have certainly contributed the fact that Anselmo focused on increasingly sludge atmospheres while Dimebag remained faithful to his granitic groove riffs. The tracks that stand out slightly more from this suffering album are the single "Goddamn Electric" which is dynamic and pleasant, characterized by aggressive and sharp riffage; "Revolution Is My Name" is powerful but lacks bite, I struggle to get to the end even though Dimebag gives it his all; "I'll Cast a Shadow" is powerful, dynamic, and pleasant but the problem remains the same it lacks the touch of class that characterizes their songs up to the penultimate album. Yet, it's not a throwaway work, the technique is always high with a Dimebag who is simply great as always, a solid rhythm section (Vinnie Paul-Rex Brown), and a great voice, but overall there's a sense that everyone is playing for themselves, with their great technique, sure, but without cohesion.

Listening to this album didn't disappoint me because I knew Pantera was in crisis, but I was saddened because after getting excited with "Strength Beyond Strength" and the enigmatic "Floods", I've seen the end of a band that for me was little less than a religion.