Pantera (/pænˈtɛrə/) is an American heavy metal band formed in Arlington, Texas in 1981 by the Abbott brothers (guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul), and currently composed of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, and touring musicians Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante.

[1][2][3] Regarded as one of the most successful and influential bands in heavy metal history, Pantera has sold around 20 million records worldwide[4] and has received four Grammy nominations.

Vinnie Paul went on to form Hellyeah after his brother's death, and died of heart failure in 2018,[8] leaving Brown and Anselmo as the only surviving members of the band's best-known lineup.

In July 2022, it was announced that Brown and Anselmo were reuniting in 2023 for Pantera's first tour in 22 years,[9] with Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante filling in for the Abbott brothers on guitar and drums, respectively.

[29] After being turned down "28 times by every major label on the face of the Earth",[30] Atco Records representatives Mark Ross and Stevenson Eugenio were asked by their boss Derek Shulman, who was interested in signing Pantera, to see the band perform in Texas.

[36] Pantera also opened for other bands like Sepultura, Fates Warning, Prong, Mind Over Four, and Morbid Angel, and co-headlined a North American tour with Wrathchild America.

[37] The band eventually landed a billing for "Monsters in Moscow" with AC/DC and Metallica in September 1991, where they played to a crowd of over 500,000 in attendance to celebrate the new freedom of performing Western music in the Soviet Union shortly before its downfall three months later.

Pantera's unique "groove" style came to fruition with their sixth studio album, titled Vulgar Display of Power, recorded in 1991 and released on February 25, 1992.

On this album, the power metal falsetto vocals were replaced with a hardcore-influenced shouted delivery and heavier guitar sound, which firmly cemented the band's popularity among mainstream and underground fans alike.

[7] Pantera went on tour again, visiting Japan for the first time in July 1992 and later performing at the "Monsters of Rock" festival co-headlined by Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath in Italy.

[15] In 1995, the supergroup Down, one of Anselmo's many side projects, released their debut album, NOLA, but shortly afterwards the group members returned to their respective bands, leaving Down inactive for several years.

[52] Also in 1997, Pantera played on the mainstage of Ozzfest alongside Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath, Marilyn Manson, Type O Negative, Fear Factory, Machine Head, and Powerman 5000.

4 on the Billboard 200[7] and included two singles; "Revolution Is My Name" and "Goddamn Electric", the latter of which featured a Kerry King outro solo recorded backstage in one take during Ozzfest in Dallas.

In 2000, Pantera played on the mainstage of Ozzfest alongside Ozzy Osbourne, Godsmack, Static-X, Methods of Mayhem, Incubus, P.O.D., Black Label Society, Queens of the Stone Age, and Apartment 26.

The Abbott brothers officially disbanded Pantera in November 2003,[61] also the year when their best-of compilation album was released, when the two concluded that Anselmo had abandoned them and would not return.

[25] This explanation was soon dismissed by Vinnie Paul, who said shortly after the 2004 murder of his brother that he had personally listened to the audio files of the interview and that Anselmo had not been misquoted or misrepresented, but said the exact words which appeared in the article.

And now I'm hearing it's worse than ever [...] The anger and the hatred and the drunken nights of just screaming in my face, with me sitting there taking it and holding both of my hands just to not hit the guy… I grew weary of that.

[25] On December 8, 2004, less than a minute into the first song of a Damageplan show at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio, a 25-year-old man named Nathan Gale walked onto the stage with a gun, shooting and killing Darrell.

Gale also killed fan Nathan Bray, 23, club employee Erin Halk, 29, and Pantera security official Jeff "Mayhem" Thompson, 40, and injured longtime Pantera and Damageplan drum technician John "Kat" Brooks and Damageplan tour manager Chris Paluska before being shot dead by Columbus police officer James Niggemeyer.

In a July 2015 interview with Rolling Stone, Anselmo spoke out against Pantera and his other band's usage of the Confederate flag claiming it was a mistake to use it on their merchandise, albums, and other promotional material.

"[91] Sterling Winfield (who produced Reinventing the Steel) stated he would not "feel comfortable calling it Pantera", but added that the new lineup "could make some very badass music".

[108] Pantera has also been cited (along with others, such as Testament, Sepultura, and Machine Head) as being part of the second wave of thrash metal from the late 1980s to early-to-mid 1990s,[109][110] though Anselmo has rejected this label.

The first was "Planet Caravan", a slower, quieter song planned for the first Sabbath tribute album, Nativity in Black, that eventually became the final track on Far Beyond Driven.

A previously unreleased cover of Sabbath's "Hole in the Sky" was included on the band's 2003 compilation album, The Best of Pantera: Far Beyond the Great Southern Cowboys' Vulgar Hits!

In a 2019 interview with MetalHammer, the band explained that their move away from glam began in early 1988, when Anselmo played "At Dawn they Sleep", by Slayer, for Darrell Abbott.

Subsequently, Anselmo's vocals became inspired by Agnostic Front and Black Flag, and the instrumentalists by Slayer, Voivod, Faith No More's The Real Thing (1989) and Soundgarden's Louder Than Love (1989).

[113] Pantera's other influences or inspirations include AC/DC,[114] Accept,[115] Aerosmith,[116] Anthrax,[117] the Beatles,[116][118] Biohazard,[119] Black Sabbath,[120] Dark Angel,[121] Def Leppard,[121] Faith No More,[113] Peter Frampton,[118] Humble Pie,[116] Iron Maiden,[117][122] Judas Priest,[114][121][122][123] King's X,[114][117] Kiss,[114][118][121][122] Led Zeppelin,[116] Megadeth,[117] Melvins,[120] Mercyful Fate,[124] Metallica,[114][117][124][122][123] the Michael Schenker Group,[122] Minor Threat,[124] Motörhead,[125] Ozzy Osbourne,[114][122] Overkill,[35][117] Prong,[119] the Rolling Stones,[116] Savatage,[117] Saxon,[126][127] Sepultura,[119] Sick of It All,[119] Testament,[117] Pat Travers,[114][122] Robin Trower,[125] Van Halen,[114][121][122] Venom,[121] and ZZ Top.

According to Vinnie Paul, the song originated from an incident during a show in San Diego, California, Anselmo was annoyed by a heckler and encouraged the crowd to beat him up.

Brian Davis, a contributor to Internet radio station KNAC, addresses the issue as follows: Exhorder's main "claim to fame" is the common opinion that they're the band that Pantera stole their sound from.

"[138][139] They have influenced many modern metal bands, including Slipknot,[140] Machine Head, Bullet for My Valentine,[141] Trivium,[142] Avenged Sevenfold,[143] Children of Bodom,[144] Lamb of God, Gojira, All That Remains, As I Lay Dying and Five Finger Death Punch.