Pantera always had drive. They made little to no money for the first ten years of the band’s existence and even struggled to get by before the release of “Vulgar Display of Power.” But they had the drive to make music and make it better. They needed to prove themselves and by the release of “Far Beyond Driven,” they had done just that, with the record landing at number 1 on the Billboard 200 in 1994. It was a huge accomplishment for any artist but especially for a metal band, rubbing elbows with Mariah Carey and Celine Dion.
Perhaps most well known for their contribution to Spongebob Squarepants Season 2, Episode 27a with the song “Pre-Hibernation,” Pantera also did other stuff. They began as a humble glam metal band in 1980s Texas. When the 90s rolled around and they decided to trade in their spandex, the natural next step for the glam band was to go to the opposite extreme of thrash metal. But through Pantera’s metamorphosis from glam-haired caterpillar to somehow even more hairy thrash butterfly, they developed and popularized a new style of metal called power groove. The band would become one of the most popular and influential heavy metal bands of the 90s. Vocalist Phil Anselmo is a homegrown New Orleanian who never once was accused of being a racist after saying something racist, ever. More importantly, their guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell is commonly mentioned as the greatest metal guitarist of all time. Sadly, Darrell was shot and killed on stage in 2004, which marked a tragic end for an ex-glam band that undeniably changed the face of metal forever.