Although Vulgar Display of Power remains Pantera's best and definitive album, Cowboys from Hell was the creative breakthrough that set the stage for its conception.
Not only were its demos responsible for getting Pantera signed to a major label in the first place, but its fresh musical perspective also gave them a much-needed blank slate with which to conquer the 1990s and, first and foremost, erase their 1980s failures.
These failures were cataloged on no less than four independently released LPs packed with largely derivative and thoroughly unimpressive hair metal, and only the fourth of them even counted with recently installed lead vocalist Phil Anselmo, whose broader influences and irrepressible energy cannot be underestimated in altering Pantera's fate.
As the "new guy" entering the Texans' insular world, Anselmo made only tentative contributions to that fourth Pantera album, 1988's Power Metal, but its incremental heaviness and titular statement of intent nevertheless presaged the wholesale reinvention that would be effectively crystallized by Cowboys from Hell.
Here, at last, virtuoso guitarist Diamond (soon to be rechristened Dimebag) Darrell Abbott was finally inspired to snap out of the rampant Van Halen-isms that had creatively shackled his formidable talents thus far, and established his own unmistakable imprint for the instrument, and, by extension, Pantera's signature sound.
This was characterized by a subtlety-free sledgehammer approach informed by, but not beholden to, recent developments in extreme metal, as well as a groove-laden, muscular riffing style punctuated by squealing pinch harmonics -- as illustrated to perfection by the downtuned post-thrash beatdown of the title track, "Primal Concrete Sledge," and "The Art of Shredding," among others.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cowboys from HellPantera | Pantera | Play | 04:06 | 9 MB | 32 MB |
| 2 | Primal Concrete SledgePantera | Pantera | Play | 02:15 | 5 MB | 15 MB |
| 3 | Psycho HolidayPantera | Pantera | Play | 05:25 | 12 MB | 41 MB |
| 4 | HeresyPantera | Pantera | Play | 04:42 | 10 MB | 36 MB |
| 5 | Cemetery GatesPantera | Pantera | Play | 05:19 | 12 MB | 41 MB |
| 6 | DominationPantera | Pantera | Play | 04:45 | 10 MB | 37 MB |
| 7 | ShatteredPantera | Pantera | Play | 04:47 | 10 MB | 36 MB |
| 8 | Clash with RealityPantera | Pantera | Play | 05:16 | 12 MB | 43 MB |
| 9 | Medicine ManPantera | Pantera | Play | 04:52 | 11 MB | 36 MB |
| 10 | Message in BloodPantera | Pantera | Play | 04:57 | 11 MB | 38 MB |
| 11 | The SleepPantera | Pantera | Play | 06:15 | 14 MB | 44 MB |
| 12 | The Art of ShreddingPantera | Pantera | Play | 05:47 | 13 MB | 41 MB |
| 58 mins | 134 MB | |||||
| 58 mins | 446 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phil Anselmo | Vocals |
| 2 | Rex Brown | Bass |
| 3 | Diamond Darrell | Guitar |
| 4 | Terry Date | Engineer, Producer |
| 5 | Pantera | Composer, Primary Artist, Producer |
| 6 | Vinnie Paul | Drums |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |