Pantera Reinventing the Steel (EastWest)

Pantera

Reinventing the Steel (EastWest)

Beavis and Butthead are so ... 1993. For that matter, so is Pantera, which is why everyone's favorite cartoon cretins loved 'em. After all, the Dallas quartet helped spawn the spate of bands with guttural Cro-Magnon vocals, bass-heavy mixes, crushingly heavy guitar, and tricky beats; think Pro-Pain, Crowbar, and god knows how many many others. While those outside the immediate state may have forgotten about Pantera, this being their first studio album in four years, the faithful will be glad to hear the boys are back; Phillip Anselmo still drinks kerosene before singing, the rhythm section still lurches around like an elephant on Rohypnol, and Dimebag Darrel still pulls the occasional squiggly solo out of his butt. It's still the same compressed, speaker-ruining, sonic-punishment mix ("You've Gotta Belong to It" even gets a little psychedelic), still the same hair, still the same shit that parents hate. Here's a sample lyric: "Your trust is in whisky, weed and Black Sabbath -- it's goddamn electric." It's 1993 all over again! Get ready to hear this blasting out of the Rockford Fosgate subwoofers of cars a block or two away. Turn it up, Beavis!!!