Pantera

Pantera (/pænˈtɛrə/) was an American heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas. The group was formed in 1981, by the Abbott brothers—drummer Vinnie Paul and guitarist Dimebag Darrell—along with lead vocalist Terry Glaze. Bassist Rex Brown joined the band the following year, replacing Tommy D. Bradford, who was the unofficial original. Having started as a glam metal band, Pantera released four albums, independently, during the 1980s. Looking for a new and heavier sound, Pantera, replaced Glaze with Phil Anselmo in late 1986 and released Power Metal in 1988. In 1989, the band secured a record deal with the major laber Atco. With its fifth album, 1990's Cowboys from Hell, Pantera introduced the groove metal genre, while its 1992 follow-up Vulgar Display of Power exhibited an even heavier sound. Far Beyond Driven (1994) debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. In addition to their contribution to the groove metal genre, Pantera is credited (along with Sepultura and Machine Head) for being part of the second wave of thrash metal scene, in the early-to-mid 1990s.

Tensions began to surface, among the band members, when Anselmo became addicted to heroin in 1995; he almost died from an overdose in 1996. These tensions resulted, in the recording sessions for The Great Southern Trendkill (1996), being held separately. The ongoing tension, lasted for another seven years, during which, only one studio album, Reinventing the Steel (2000), was recorded. Pantera went on hiatus, in 2001, but was disbanded by the Abbott brothers, in 2003, amid communication problems and their conclusion, that Anselmo would not return to the band.

The Abbott brothers, went on to form Damageplan, while Anselmo, continued work on several side projects, including Down, which Brown joined as well. On December 8, 2004, Darrell was shot and killed on stage, by a mentally unstable fan, during a Damageplan concert, in Columbus, Ohio. Vinnie Paul died of heart failure, in 2018, leaving Brown and Anselmo, as the only surviving members of the band's best-known lineup, as well as its first singer Glaze.