LeviathanIsGodofMeta : 19/20 | Vulgar Display of Power is one of the most important and influential metal records of the 90's. Arguably Pantera's masterpiece, this record is THE example of groove metal. Any groove record during that era was using this album as a guide. Even the classics like Machine Head's Burn My Eyes and Sepultura's Chaos A.D. were following this album. Hell, even Pantera's own Far Beyond Driven record used Vulgar Display of Power as a blueprint. This album is just a masterpiece. Non-metal fans know what it is and respect it.
This album contains so many timeless songs, it's unbelievable. Everybody knows "Mouth for War", "A New Level", "Walk", "Fucking Hostile", "This Love", "Regular People (Conceit)", and "Hollow". That's more than half the record. And people don't know the songs because of notoriety a la Cannibal Corpse's "Meat Hook Sodomy" or "Hammer Smashed Face". They know them because they're amazing songs. "Mouth for War" is kind of thrashy, utilizing a more up-tempo groove than most of the other songs. It reminds me of the work on the Cowboys from Hell album, and it just may be the band saying goodbye to their older style. "A New Level" is one of the best tracks on the album with a crushing main riff and devastating vocals.
Everybody knows "Walk", so I need not explain it, but it is representative of the entire album. The entire album follows this formula: kick the song off with a killer groove, bring in an instantly memorable chorus while never straying from the groove, then hit the listener with an incredible solo courtesy of Dime, before letting the groove return. Really, the only times the album doesn't follow this winning pattern are for the excellent tracks, the eerily jazz oriented "This Love", and the classic ballad with a twist, "Hollow". And haters may complain about the album sounding too samey, but this is the way an album should be. It should have a distinct style and sound, but have a detour or two to keep things fresh. This album pulls it off fantastically. This band tried an album where almost every song has a different feel, and while a lot of the songs clicked on it, The Great Southern Trendkill didn't have enough focus, and as a result, the album suffered.
Vulgar Display of Power is definitely Pantera's greatest moment, and I'd argue that it is the best groove album of all time. This is a masterpiece, and most people know it. So while Exhorder fans complain about how Pantera stole the sound, I'm going to go listen to Vulgar again, and revel in how much better of an album it is than The Law.
2009-05-21 00:00:00
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