Vulgar Display of Power

February 25, 2012 marked the 20-year anniversary for Pantera's Vulgar Display of Power, a landmark album widely acknowledged as one of metal's most enduring and influential masterworks. Recorded by singer Philip Anselmo, guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, bassist Rex Brown and drummer Vinnie Paul, the album has been certified double platinum by the RIAA and features several of the group's most iconic songs including "Walk," "Mouth For War," "This Love," and "Fucking Hostile."

To celebrate, Rhino channels the album's relentless blitzkrieg of musical aggression onto a two-disc Deluxe Edition. The collection features the debut of "Piss," an incendiary blast of vintage Pantera from the original recording sessions. It remained lost until Vinnie Paul rediscovered the track while going through the band s vault.


Along with the unreleased song, Vulgar Display Of Power (Deluxe Edition) also features unreleased video of the quartet performing six songs at the Monsters Of Rock show in Reggio Emilia, Italy on September 12, 1992. The set list draws almost exclusively from Vulgar ("This Love," "Rise" "Mouth For War"), but also includes the title track from their previous album, Cowboys From Hell, and a melding of Vulgar s "Hollow" and Cowboys "Domination," which was a live staple of the band.

Probably the heaviest album ever to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart, Pantera's Vulgar Display of Power proved that, even in an era of alternative rock supremacy, heavy metal fans were still a force to contend with. Blending eerie, surging grooves influenced by Black Sabbath with thrashy speed metal riffs, Pantera created a bleak, oppressive disc that captured both ends of the speed spectrum without resorting to cliché, abrupt tempo shifts. Guitarist Diamond Darrell plays with as much crunch as the best Metallica, while vocalist Phil Anselmo screams loud enough to satisfy any GBH fan. Coupled with Vinnie Paul's insistent, double bass-drum onslaught, you're left with a record that's a dentist's wet dream--an album that'll shake the fillings out of even the strongest teeth. --Jon Wiederhorn