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Rating: Well, this is my first review and I chose one of my favorite CDs: namely The Great Southern Trendkill by Pantera. Released in '96, it is probably, along with Reinventing The Steel, the CD with the harshest sounds from the Texan group. Well, after inserting the CD in the stereo and pressing the fateful "play," it immediately kicks off with the stupendous "The Great Southern Trendkill" (the first song with the same name as the CD) featuring one of Anselmo's most devastating screams, which lets us know the album is truly wicked, the song flows smoothly until the beautiful fade-out ending, dominated by Darrell's guitars. Immediately after comes War Nerve, akin to Mouth For War of the situation, which flaunts a ferocious riff.
But the masterpiece is the third song, the beautiful "Drag the Waters," in whose lyrics Ühil seems to pour all the hatred and rancor permeating the entire CD. The 4th song, 10's, is much less intense than the others; here Anselmo finds the warm and almost grunge voice that he also showcases with Down. The fifth song is "13 Steps to Nowhere," perhaps the song that goes most unnoticed, mainly due to the lack of touches of class except for the intro with the drums, a novelty for Pantera.
The sixth song is instead the prelude to the destruction of the seventh. In fact, Suicide Note Pt 1 and Part 2 both deal with the theme of suicide, with the peculiarity that, while "SNPt1" is extremely slow, melancholic, and sad, "SNPt2" is extremely fast, wicked, and ruthless, making you want to headbang even while sitting on the couch. Track 8, "Living Through Me", is another beautiful piece which you cannot help but notice the break, with ambient sounds, worthy of Deftones. We then arrive at the melancholic "Floods," the third "calm" song of the CD, which is enriched by sampled sounds and a nearly minute-long guitar solo that takes your breath away! This is followed by the other masterpiece (at least for me) of the album: "The Underground In America," a song that exudes malice and violence, with a beautiful ending that connects with guitar feedback to sandblasted skin, making these two songs sisters.
After listening to TGST, you immediately realize Pantera's evolution from "Far Beyond Driven." The guitars are sharper, Vinnie Paul’s double bass and rhythms are more aggressive and closer to thrash, while the vocals have become, especially in the screams, comparable to black metal. The rating for the CD would be 4/5, but considering the beautiful booklet and the touches of class (see various guitar fade-outs or even the splendid union between tracks 10 and 11), it could rise to 5/5. Obviously, there are those who don't care much about these things, so I'm leaving it at 4/5 and that's the end of it. Tell me what you think about my first work and excuse me if I am wordy, but Pantera are Pantera!
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 The Great Southern Trendkill (03:46)
It's wearing on my mind,
I'm speaking all my doubts aloud
You rob a dead mans grave,
Then flaunt it like you did create
If I hit bottom and everythings gone
In the great Mississippi, please drown me and run
It's digging time again,
You're nurturing the weakest trend
Those with the heart and the brain to get past this
Can spot a pathetic without even asking
Fuck your magazine,
and fuck the long dead plastic scene
Pierce a new hole,
if Hell was "in" you'd give your soul to
THE GREAT SOUTHERN TRENDKILL
That's right,
THE GREAT SOUTHERN TRENDKILL
Fuck yeah.
Buy it at a store,
from MTV to on the floor
You look just like a star,
it's proof you don't know who you are
If I hit bottom and everythings gone
In the great Mississippi, please drown me and run
It's bullshit time again,
you'll save the world within your trend
Those with the heart and the brain to get past this
Can spot a pathetic without even asking
Politically relieved,
you're product sold and well received
The right words spoken gold,
if I was God you'd sell your soul to...
THE GREAT SOUTHERN TRENDKILL
That's right,
THE GREAT SOUTHERN TRENDKILL
Fuck yeah.
03 Drag the Waters (04:55)
A smack on the wrists is the words from the mouth
of the outsiders, lawyers, police
A small price to pay for the dope and the guns
And the rape, it should all be O.K.
Your father is rich, he's the judge, he's the man,
he's the God that got your sentence reduced
But in the back of his mind, he well knows what
he'd find if he looked a little deeper in you - in you
(Chorus)
Drag the waters some more
Like never before
(Chorus)
Sweet is the slice and the lips - you're gonna have
that woman - she is your favorite lay
Promised you (swore) that no one had been there,
and she was going to keep it that way
Let it move in, you got thin, and got high, and
your money went and so did your friends
But she's by your side, and her smile cannot hide
the premonition of the beckoning end - the end
(Chorus)
(Chorus)
In with it, out with it
05 13 Steps to Nowhere (03:37)
Your windows boarded up, your private lives exposed
the talk show pump it up, lab rats diseased for show
we're doomed to use the slang, outbreak of drug roulette
a church burned to the ground, not even noticed yet
13 Steps (To Nowhere)(spoken)
A backwards swastika, the black skin riddled in lead
a nazi gangster jew, it beats a dog thats dead
it's in to use the slang, outbreak of drug roulette
the cross slants to the side, will prove the damndest yet
13 Steps--Leads to Nowhere
The backlash dislcates, an untimely reign of death
the wolf poked with the stick, awaits with cancerous breath
(Leads to Nowhere)
Outsiders still suppose, there's holy streets to roam
the truth should not surprise, your homes were built on lies
09 Floods (06:59)
A dead issue
Don't wrestle with it
Deaf ears are sleeping
A guilty bliss
So inviting
(Let me in)
Nailed to the cross
I feel you
Relate to you
Accuse you
Wash away us all
Take us with the floods
Then throughout the night
They were raped and executed
(Then throughout the night
They were raped and executed)
Cold hearted world
Your language unheard of
The vast sound of tuning out
The rash of negativity
(The rash of negativity)
Is seen one sidedly
(One sidedly)
Burn away the day
The nervous
The drifting
The heaving
Wash away us all
Take us with the floods
Then throughout the day
Mankind played with grenades
(Then throughout the day
Mankind played with grenades)
Cold hearted world
And at night
They might bait the pentagram
(And at night
They might bait the pentagram)
Extinguishing the sun
Wash away man
Take him with the floods
Flood, flood, flood
Flood, flood, flood
Flood, flood, flood
Flood, flood, flood
-Awesome Guitar Solo-
Flood, flood, flood
Flood, flood, flood
Flood, flood, flood
Flood, flood, flood
10 The Underground in America (04:33)
Put in position to wage teenage mayhem
A common affair for the ones who are juiced
If it is weakness that grants us the power
We thrive on what's stronger than most of the world
Glass breaks
the dimming lights
sweat, heat and profane debate
the smart ones stay on the outside
while drunken heads and arms erupt
centered man swings a punch,
spits a tooth, postures odd
a punk rock escapade
five bucks a head to be king dick in the crowd
We are the ones who must sport the position
cheap beer
trendy clicks
lesbian love is accepted and right
shaved heads meet hair in the mix
blending the 80's and 90's with hate
Put in position to wage teenage mayhem
A common affair for the ones who are juiced
If it is weakness that grants us the power
We thrive on what's stronger than most of the world
Shows on
dates canceled
kicked out for reasons that seem so unfair
skin crusts against the cops
a foregone conclusion that's tired and beat
Ringworm,crabs and lice
V.D. ecstasy, speed and horse
a heaven of unmatched importance
an honor of sex to be stuck by the punk
Rich homes with money and food
abandoned for the bums on the street
a lifestyle that's unexplainable
don't try and save what is all meant to be
Put in position to wage teenage mayhem
A common affair for the ones who are juiced
If it is weakness that grants us the power
We thrive on what's stronger than most of the world
If it is free
from (a) family that's seen
you can just keep it
if you must beg
it's better instead
you must follow the etiquette
You know when it rains you're in your bed at home
You act so real when you are alone
You better not let the mohawked crowd see
Give it five years, you'll retire your piercings
You must admit that you mimic the weaklings
The trend is dead...
The trend is dead...
The trend is dead...
The trend is dead...
The trend is...
11 (Reprise) Sandblasted Skin (05:39)
Scrape it, grind it
Peel it, hide it
The trend is over
And gone forever
Shelf it, box it
Save it, frame it
You won't need that anymore
It's on sale at the
Fuckin dollar store
Waste of time
Pantomime
Circus doll
At the local mall
Exterminate, it's all fake!
Exterminate, it's all fake
Sandblast yourself
Sandblast yourself
Sandblast
Sandblast
It's getting old, old, old
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Other reviews
By Semenz
The perfect evolution of Pantera’s sound, a huge sonic shift, the endpoint to which Reinventing The Steel will follow.
Buy it, listen to it, enjoy every note because it’s really worth it! The trend is dead!!!
By DeLiam
It took me a while to appreciate the album because of the Screams, but now I can say they all fit perfectly.
The Title track alone is worth the purchase, followed by one great song after another.
