Pantera Reunion?!

First off, the photo to the right was scanned by me in 2008 from a Sweden Rock Magazine (I don't recall what issue), and if you don't believe me, then go to http://www.lastfm.se/music/Pantera/+images/7559869 and look at the uploader, which is Idiots-Rule = my account. I love this photo of Pantera btw, it's a great, early shot from 1989 or 1990. I really love how Dimebag (R.I.P.) really is looking thrash here, while Phil look hardcore as usual.

But anyway, the topic I wanted to discuss about Pantera today is a potential reunion with them. I've read lots of opinions from fans all over the net for one or two years now, and the most common sollution for a "reunion" looks like Pantera feat. Zakk Wylde. Now I love Zakk, he's a great guitarist, a cool dude, he played with Ozzy whom is my favorite of all time, and he's got Black Label Society which is another band that I love. But as much as I love Zakk and his music through the years, I also do love Pantera and their legacy - a legacy I belive should be left alone and to age with pride. While I certainly still would find it cool to hear and maybe even see a reunion (or as close to one as it can be, without Dimebag that is), I still believe that it would ultimately be a rotten, dirty, and bad thing to do. Now from what I understand, the surviving guys seem to agree that a reunion is out of the question, which is a relief to me. I mean Phil's got Down, which I totally love, and he should stick with that, focus on that as well as his side-projects. Rex is doing fine with Kill Devil Hill which is one of my favorite bands of this year, and Vinnie Paul also seems to have a solid place in Hellyeah (though I don't listen to them, never have been, I dunno why, haven't got the slightest idea).

With this said, I'm sure that there would be lots of great names, big as small, to pay tribute to Dimebag if a reunion ever would take place, but really everyone. Show Dime some respect, don't destroy the great legacy of Pantera, no matter how much money the capitalist, bastard suits can caugh up to see it.

Over and out.

Kill Devil Hill - Kill Devil Hill (2012)

This album has been one of the albums I've been looking the most forward to for quite some time now and finally it arrived. This supergroup consist of Jason Bragg - vocals (ex-Pissing Razors), Mark Zavon - guitars (ex-W.A.S.P.), Rex Brown - bass (ex-Pantera, Down), and Vinny Appice - drums (ex-Dio, Heaven And Hell, Black Sabbath). The band is now going on tour with another supergroup - Adrenaline Mob - featuring Mike Portnoy (ex-Dream Theater) on drums, among others I don't know too well. Though, if I'm gonna be honest, Adrenaline Mob is an okey band, but not really my bottle of Coke. I couldn't personally really recommend them, but Mr. Portnoy is a great drummer nonetheless. Anyway ...

This album is quite varied, yet follows a line that doesn't completely separate the songs too much style-wise. The band themselves have reported it sounding like a mix of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Alice in Chains, which I definitely agree with and couldn't describe any better. Some people have even said they hear some Pantera in this (because of Rex Brown), but I don't really hear anything that did lead my mind to Pantera, except for maybe the calm "Gates Of Hell", which sounds somewhat southern styled and "The Great Southern Trend-Kill" alike. The album starts with a track called "War Machine" which is an instant rocker and face-punch introduction to what this album is about. Vinny Appice doesn't play double bass drums so there are no really fast-paced tunes to be heard here, but this song would be one of the faster ones on the album. We get two songs that start off with Rex's mean bass acompanied with drums in "Hangman" and "Rise From The Shadows". Personally, I'm a fan of bass guitars and I belive it is the most underrated and overlooked instrument in metal music. "We're All Gonna Die" gets my thoughts a lot to Alice in Chains, especially during the chorus, and "Old Man" is probably the most straight-forward and simplest rocker on the album, reminding me of Led Zeppelin. Much of the other material is kind of Ozzy- and Dio-era Sabbath sounding, heavy and doomy.

The tunes come in a nicely done production. It sounds okey for an album by today's standards when everything is supposed to be in the red, why I don't know really, but it's like that and that's the way it is (hi Run-D.M.C.!!). Very instrument is also audible which I strongly like, especially the meatty bass. The guys put out great performances overall, but with both Vinny and Rex that comes as no big surprise, really. Mark Zavon also proves to be a great guitarist and I can only wonder where he's been before this project, aparat from a touring member of one of my all time fave bands W.A.S.P. But the biggest surprise about this band is the singer Jason Bragg. What a guy! This guy sings really fucking good, I love him! I guess he could be described as a mix between Lane Staley (ex-Alice in Chains, R.I.P.) and Tony Martin (ex-Black Sabbath), at least he sounds like that to me. He also used to be in a now defunct band called Pissing Razors that played a groovy sound somewhat similar to Pantera, Exhorder and Machine Head, in which he used more screaming which I didn't think was his great talent. I even think I can go as far as saying he's my favorite singer of the year, so far at least. Just great, what a voice, damn.

So to put a close to this review now. This was probably the one album I was looking forward to the most for quite a long time now, especially after hearing these three great tracks they put out for streaming: Time And Time Again, Voodoo Doll, and Revenge. I love all these three tracks and I really think they were good preview choices, they describe the album very well, I think. They also made a video for the song "Strange". A good one, but probably not the one I'd do a vid for. Anyway, after hearing the whole album, it left me a little disappointed in some way. I don't quite know what way(s), but I felt like I miss something. Maybe it's just that some tunes aren't as strong as the others, though there are no fillers really. To check out Kill Devil Hill and see what they're all about, I'd recommend the three tunes they released for streaming as album previews, as well as the video of course, and one of my own personal fave tracks on the album: Up In Flames.

Final rating: 8,5 / 11 ("this go to eleven" ;-) )

Keep your eyes open for the album in Spotify and you can check out some stuff by them at YouTube already, and of course buy the album and support them! :-)