Hosts: Neil & Chris
Duration: ~55 minutes
Release: 1 July 2024
What do you do with an album that sounds like it is punching you in the face, yet somehow still sneaks in ballads, groove and some of the tastiest solos of the 90s? In this episode Neil and Chris go back to Pantera's Vulgar Display of Power, a record that soundtracked bad college days, angry bus rides and those moments when you just needed something heavier than everything else in your CD wallet.
They trace Pantera's journey from Texas bar kings with four under the radar glam records through to the leap of Cowboys from Hell and into the two million selling monster that was Vulgar. Along the way you hear how touring with bands like Exodus and Suicidal Tendencies knocked the swagger out of them, left a massive chip on their collective shoulders and fed directly into the ferocity of these songs.
Across the hour they keep circling back to what made this album feel different in 1992, from Phil Anselmo's unrelenting vocal delivery to the way Dimebag, Vinnie and Rex built a sound that was dry, precise and metallic, but still full of groove and space you can feel.
Neil and Chris spend serious time with the songs that defined the album for them. "This Love" becomes a case study in tension and release, starting as a bruised almost ballad before erupting into a howl about twisted affection that matches every pinch harmonic. "Hollow" is framed as Cemetery Gates part two, the track that carries the emotional weight of grief and regret while still letting Dime paint across the top with lyrical, vocal like lead lines.
They break down "Walk" as more than just a mosh pit staple, focusing on Rex's deceptively simple bass line holding the ground while the guitar riff stomps on top, and on how the decision not to simply double the riff kept the song from tipping into cartoon bounce. Throughout, there is attention to Vinnie Paul's drumming as the engine that makes the whole record swing, even when the lyrics and tone are at their most hostile.
Vulgar Display of Power lands right at the moment where grunge is breaking, the Black Album is ruling the world and heavy music is splintering in a dozen directions, yet it still manages to feel like its own lane. By slowing some tempos down, doubling down on riffs and keeping the production dry, punchy and uncompromising, Pantera showed that metal could be crushingly heavy without disappearing into speed for its own sake.
Revisited now, the album sounds less like pure aggression and more like a tightly controlled snapshot of four players at their absolute peak, from Dimebag's instinctive solos to Rex's percussive low end and Vinnie's locked in grooves. This episode gives you enough context, production nerdery and very human detours to hear past the surface anger and appreciate why this record still sits near the top of so many metal fans' lists.
Perfect for: Listeners who once used Pantera to survive awful college days, guitarists obsessed with Dimebag's tone and phrasing, drum and bass nerds who love dry, punchy mixes, and anyone curious how a brutally heavy record could sell in Black Album numbers without softening its edge.