Power Metal

by

Pantera

Metal listeners are divided into two camps: those who consider Pantera’s Power Metal album their best work, and those who don’t. While Pantera achieved commercial success and critical acclaim from their fifth album onwards, they have always been at the center of debate among metal fans. In this sense, for some, this album was Pantera’s last spark before they "fell from grace," for others, it’s a meaningless album made before the "real" Pantera appeared, something they’d rather hide. And then, there are the relatively few who find it to be a "decent" album that, while not as good as their later works, hints at their future direction. Due to this background, the album has been the subject of both admiration and dismissal, receiving highly polarized evaluations.

The album is fundamentally steeped in the influences of '80s heavy metal, particularly from heavy/power metal bands, with a slight touch of glam metal. Pantera's early music is often dismissed as glam, but unlike many of the glam bands from the '80s who bore the "metal" label but essentially played hard rock, Pantera was actually playing heavy metal. Moreover, this album is more faithful to heavy metal compared to their previous three records. Excluding tracks like "Rock the World," "We'll Meet Again," "Proud to Be Loud," and "Hard Ride," which have a stronger glam feel, songs like "Power Metal" and "Death Trip" show that the band was indeed performing within the realm of what is often called traditional power metal or heavy/power metal—sometimes mistakenly categorized as thrash. On "Over and Out," you can even catch a glimpse of the groove metal blueprint that Pantera would "fall into" after their fifth album. Tracks like "Down Below" and "Burnnn!" are also solid heavy metal tracks.

When viewed without considering Pantera’s prior and subsequent trajectory, this album is clearly not a failure, but it’s also hard to say that it rises above the level of mediocrity. The album is "true" enough, but that’s all there is to it. The exceptional riffs and song structures that many great '80s bands showcased are difficult to find here. While I agree that this album is not unpleasant to listen to and can even be considered Pantera’s best work, I cannot agree with the praise it receives as a reaction against the "groove metal band Pantera."