Pantera

PANTERA. American heavy metal band formed by the Abbott brothers in Arlington Texas in 1981. Having started as a glam metal band and following the release of four albums during the 1980s they started looking for a new & heavier sound and released Power Metal in 1988. Their fifth album Cowboys from Hell introduced a groove metal sound. The sixth album Vulgar Display of Power (1992) had a heavier sound and in 1994 "Far Beyond Driven" debuted at No1 on the Billboard 200 Chart. Tensions began to surface among the band members when vocalist Phil Anselmo became addicted to heroin in 1995 (almost dying from an overdose in 1996). Those tensions resulted in the recording sessions for The Great Southern Trendkill (1996) being held separately. The ongoing tension lasted for another seven years, in which only one studio album Reinventing the Steel (2000) was recorded. The group went on hiatus in 2001, but was disbanded by the Abbott brothers in 2003 amid communication problems and their conclusion that Anselmo could not return to the band. The Abbott brothers went on to form Damageplan while Anselmo began work on several side projects, including Down in which Rex Brown joined as well. On December 8th 2004, Pantera's outstanding lead guitarist Dimebag Darrell (Darrell Lance Abbott) was shot and killed on stage (aged just 38) by a mentally unstable fan, whilst performing during a Damageplan concert in Columbus Ohio, permanently ending any hopes of a reunion ...