The tributes to Pantera and Vinnie Paul Abbott continue in the wake of Vinnie’s passing late last month at 54. Bands and artists have been creating covers and performing live versions of Pantera classics. Check out Mick Mayer of Boston thrashers Sonic Pulse jam on this cover of ‘Domination’ with his side project Intensity Rising. Guest vocals on the track are provided by Joseph Spiller of Caricature and Bionatops. Continue reading
Vinnie Paul Abbott was laid to rest this weekend, next to his mother Carolyn and his brother Dimebag Darrell. Yesterday’s celebration of life took place at The Bomb Factory in Fort Worth, TX. Featuring video tributes to Vinnie, notable musician’s sending messages included Vinnie’s former Pantera bandmate Philip Anselmo, Corey Taylor of Slipknot and Stone Sour, among many others.Continue reading
With Vinnie Paul Abbott’s sudden and sad passing last weekend, the music world is still reeling from the loss. Revolver has uncovered fan-filmed footage of what ended up being the final Pantera show ever at Beast Feast in Yokohama, Japan in 2001. Watch the band tear through their classic song ‘5 Minutes Alone’, one of the staples of Vinnie’s incredible drumming style, copied the world over. Continue reading
In an announcement made public on the Pantera Facebook account, the public memorial for late drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott will be held on Sunday, July 1 at Bomb Factory in Dallas, Texas. Fans interested in attending “Vinnie Paul: A Public Celebration Of Life” must receive a wristband to enter the Bomb Factory. The line for wristbands will begin at noon outside the venue prior to the 3:33 p.m. memorial. The event announcement notes: “There are no advance tickets, lines or lists.” More details about the memorial can be found below. Continue reading
We are still reeling from the sudden and tragic loss of legendary metal drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott of Pantera and Hellyeah fame, who died at age 54 last night. Many of Vinnie’s peers took to social media to break the news, share their feelings and reminisce about the man.
Once again Hellyeah has proven why they are dubbed with the name “supergroup”. This all American heavy metal band consists of many of the biggest names of metal to date. Including vocalist Chad Gray of Mudvayne, former guitarist Tom Maxwell of Nothingface, bass player Kyle Sanders (Bloodsimple/Monstro), guitarist Christian Brady, and former Pantera drumming legend Vinnie Paul. Release their fifth album since their debut in 2007, entitled Unden!able (Eleven Seven Music).
This in your face power house of an album will get your body begging for the pit. From beginning to end the album shows the raw talent of the five member team. Fast paced riffs, wicked blastbeats, brutal break downs, and demonic vocals, this thirteen track album reminds us of what it means to be “Born and Breed a metalhead”.
The album opens up with ‘!’. This powerful intro begins raising the intensity inside your body until you are slapped in the face by track 2 ‘X’. This track is full of a strong lyrical rhythm accompanied with powerful double bass, strong break downs, and mind shredding riffs. Then it leads my personal favorite song on the album track 3 ‘Scratch a lie’. Chad Grey brings those blood chilling screeches, and fast paced lyrics that made him the monster he is today. This song will make you want start a mosh pit at your family reunion. The fourth track ‘Be Undin!able’ is what I like to call the anthem song. Most albums have them. It is the song where it seems to bring the crowd together, though heavy and still has the possibility to knock your teeth out, it’s a song with a positive message and encourages us to stand together as one.
Next song ‘Human’ was the first single off the album. This song gave you the sneak peek of this monstrous album. Though not as heavy as the rest, it still gives you the adrenaline pumping, head banging feeling the rest of the album gives you. The album slows down a bit with the next couple tracks. Though still pure metal, it is just not as in your face as the beginning half. ‘Leap of Faith’, ‘Blood Plague’, the Phil Collins cover of “I Don’t Care Anymore” and ‘Live or Die’ bring you back to the typical Hellyeah style, the heavy metal outlaw, showing a little bit of that southern side of metal. ‘I Don’t Care Any More’ features some leads courtesy of Vinnie Paul’s brother, Dimebag Darrell Abbott, making an appearance via tapes from beyond the grave.
Then there is the track ‘Love Falls’. A melodic ballad that pulls at the heart-strings. Chads’ lyrics transport you to a heartbreak we have all received before, showing his embarrassment and humanity. It’s a refreshing song in the midst of such chaos and brutality. Then the sirens fill your ears. A short intro ’10-34′ that leads into a riot, ‘STARTARIOT’. This song alone makes me want to bleed in a pit. The impact of the drums, the lyrics, guitar, amazing bass riffs, all of it. It’s the perfect storm for a circle pit. Lastly, ‘Grave’. The last song of the album. Just as strong and in your face but has a nice fade out giving you a sense of rejuvenation. Like you just won a war. All and all this album is strong, fast, brutal, and most importantly, HEAVY!
In closing. This album is a must have for any metal fan. It shows the roots and development of our beloved genre. Combining southern and heavy metal together into a sweet harmony of chaos. I recommend this album to anyone and it will be in my playlist for a while. Did they make a great album. I say Hellyeah.
8.0/10
TIM STEBBINS
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UPDATED: The Change.org petition demanding the return of Pantera is nearing its goal. The petition started by Pantera fan Kirsten Topperwein of San Antonio TX dubbed “The Pantera Project” surpassed 5000 signatures, its original stated goal. The new goal 7,500 signatures and now boasts a Facebook group to continue to drum up support. As previously reported by Ghost Cult the petition is calling for Pantera members Vinnie Paul Abbott and Philip H. Anselmo to reunite the band, along with bassist Rex Brown; and offering guitarist Zakk Wylde as a possible stand in for Dimebag Darrell Abbott, who was murdered on stage on December 8th 2004.
The statement from The Pantera Project:
For the past 12 years one of the most influential heavy metal bands in history has remained silent. After that horrific night where the metal community lost one of its most beloved guitarists – iconic guitarist Darryl “Dimebag” Abbott, Pantera has been relegated to “legendary” and “history”.
Aside from Dimes brilliance on stage, he loved his fans – and he showed it every time he was on stage. His passion for his craft, and his fans truly made him a metal guitar legend.
As fans first and foremost – and out of complete respect and love, our heart went out to the band with all they endured, especially to Vinnie his brother for his great loss.But we are asking for what all true Pantera fans only wished could happen: To see Pantera live on stage again. We KNOW that no one could truly replace Dime. But his ‘brother’ in Metal Zakk Wylde could step into those shoes and make the universe right again. Dimebag and Zakk were close, if anyone could do this and have the big guy’s blessing, it would be Zakk Wylde.
So in a shout out to all the metal heads across the world: please sign our petition asking the band “With all due respect” to please consider a tribute tour to pay homage to Dime for his incredible life and all he stood for. Let us see the mighty Pantera take the stage and rock the world one more time. At the end of the tour, decide where it goes from there. As die-hard Pantera fans, this is what we are BEGGING for.The Pantera Project greatly appreciates and thanks everyone for all your amazing support and efforts to truly honor an amazing person and musician who helped change heavy metal.
That is perfect!!!! ThanLETTER TO
Vinnie Paul
Philip Anselmo
Pantera Reunion/Tribute To Dime
The hope of many fans is that Pantera could someday reunite in some form or another. Wylde is often mentioned as possible member of such a reunion or tribute, volunteering himself to the band and his fallen best friend’s memory. While all the surviving members of the band have performed Pantera songs live, and Anselmo and Brown have gone on record promoting at least a tribute of sorts, Dimebag’s brother Vinnie Paul has repeatedly squashed any kind of talk of a reunion. At the same time a less vocal group of Pantera fans and artists prefer the band never reunite at all.
This past summer Mayhem Festival and Warped Tour co-founder Kevin Lyman went on record claiming he had a desire to make a significant offer to entice a version of Pantera to form and become one of the headliners for the currently defunct Mayhem Festival.
Change.org, the web’s leading site for activism based petitions, has seen the launch of petition demanding the return of Pantera. Pantera fan Kirsten Topperwein of San Antonio TX launched “The Pantera Project” on October 2nd and it already has 2,627 supporters in 6 days. The petition is calling for Pantera members Vinnie Paul Abbott and Philip H. Anselmo to reunite the band, along with bassist Rex Brown; and offering guitarist Zakk Wylde as a possible stand in for Dimebag Darrell Abbott, who was murdered on stage on December 8th 2004.
For the past 12 years one of the most influential heavy metal bands in history has remained silent. After that horrific night where the metal community lost one of its most beloved guitarists – iconic guitarist Darryl “Dimebag” Abbott, Pantera has been relegated to “legendary” and “history”.
Aside from Dimes brilliance on stage, he loved his fans – and he showed it every time he was on stage. His passion for his craft, and his fans truly made him a metal guitar legend.
As fans first and foremost – and out of complete respect and love, our heart went out to the band with all they endured, especially to Vinnie his brother for his great loss.But we are asking for what all true Pantera fans only wished could happen: To see Pantera live on stage again. We KNOW that no one could truly replace Dime. But his ‘brother’ in Metal Zakk Wylde could step into those shoes and make the universe right again. Dimebag and Zakk were close, if anyone could do this and have the big guy’s blessing, it would be Zakk Wylde.
So in a shout out to all the metal heads across the world: please sign our petition asking the band “With all due respect” to please consider a tribute tour to pay homage to Dime for his incredible life and all he stood for. Let us see the mighty Pantera take the stage and rock the world one more time. At the end of the tour, decide where it goes from there. As die hard Pantera fans, this is what we are BEGGING for.The Pantera Project greatly appreciates and thanks everyone for all your amazing support and efforts to truly honor an amazing person and musician who helped change heavy metal.
That is perfect!!!! ThanLETTER TO
Vinnie Paul
Philip Anselmo
Pantera Reunion/Tribute To Dime
This is the latest round of fan and media speculation that Pantera could someday reunite in the future. Wylde is often mentioned as possible member of such a reunion or tribute, volunteering himself to the great band and his fallen best friend. While all the surviving members of the band have performed Pantera songs live, and Anselmo and Brown have gone on record promoting at least a tribute of sorts, Dimebag’s brother Vinnie Paul has repeatedly squashed any kind of talk of a reunion. At the same time a less vocal group of Pantera fans and artists prefer the band never reunite at all.
This past summer Mayhem Festival and Warped Tour co-founder Kevin Lyman went on record claiming he had a desire to make a significant offer to entice a version of Pantera to form and become one of the headliners for the now defunct Mayhem Festival.
