blindsider's Full Review: Reinventing the Steel [PA] by Pantera
Pantera fans don't seem to do anything halfway. Casual Pantera listeners are few and far between. More often than not, followers of this legendary Texas metal band LOVE virtually everything they've ever released. And who can blame them? Pantera's Cowboys From Hell-and-beyond discography is indeed close to flawless, with each album offering a new type of groove and all kinds of versatility, especially within Phil Anselmo's outstanding vocals. Of course, fans could also rely on the hammering riffs of Dimebag Darrell (R.I.P.) and the consistently fiery rhythm section, with drummer Vinnie Paul and Rex Brown on bass.
Reinventing the Steel landed in 2000, four long years after what I see as Pantera's absolute best album, The Great Southern Trendkill. Those who are familiar with Pantera's history will know that things weren't always completely 'personally' well with the band, as there were multiple in-band conflicts resulting finally in their split a few years after this very release. And as much as I admire this band and will never deny any form of their tremendous talent, I have to be one of the few people who will say that Reinventing the Steel is actually a weak album, and certainly Pantera's worst.
See, what I usually adore about Pantera albums is the creativity, the dynamics, and Phil Anselmo's wonderful, clever, brutally honest lyrics. These factors always made them so different from other heavy metal bands, because in these ways, they constantly remained THE BEST. I am sad to report that these factors seem all but absent from Reinventing the Steel. Though full of loud, heavy guitar riffs and shouting vocals, the songs are frequently boring, unmemorable, and with completely uninteresting words, which is simply weird coming from Pantera.
Additionally, the versatility in Phil's voice seems to have went on vacation during the recording of Reinventing the Steel. During nearly every song here, he delivers a strange gruff shout which almost makes me wince due to its pure monotony. Many uneducated metal fans may assume that my words are those of someone who can not handle aggressive music and harshly screamed vocals, but the fact is that Pantera has released albums much 'heavier' vocally than this (Far Beyond Driven and particularly Trendkill, which of course is my favorite), and I usually LOVE Phil's screams, growls, etc. My point? What typically sets Pantera, and especially Phil, apart from other metal bands is pretty much not present in Reinventing the Steel.
All that aside, there are moments of worth on this album, "Hell Bound" being the main one. A stuttering guitar riff fades in, meshing with wild drums and Phil's voice, which actually sounds ON here. These are the true gut-wrenching screams typical of Phil, and it's all so awesome -- this song is a short blast of pure energy. And even though most of the song is entirely useless, "Yesterday Don't Mean Sh*t" has a stunning opening riff. Here, Dimebag created a guitar sound that truly seems to gallop, in the most frenzied way possible. It's unfortunate that the incredible setup leads to a shocking amount of repetitious ranting and shouting (at some moments, I really can't believe it's Phil on vocals -- and I mean that in the worst way possible).
The bore continues. Reinventing the Steel's lead single "Revolution Is My Name" sounds decent, and during its chorus, Phil actually sounds like he's trying a bit, but is more of a "we rule, you can't touch of us" type of thing more than anything else, and ultimately, that's lame. Then there's "We'll Grind That Axe For A Long Time," which is without any shadow of a doubt, the worst Pantera song in existence. It is an unstructured mess, with cluttered instrumentation and equally horrendous vocals. The song's title is repeated an atrocious amount of times, in a barking tone of voice that is anything but what I would usually expect from Phil Anselmo.
I was briefly intrigued by the lively drum intro to "Uplift," but unfortunately I lost interest just as quickly. Once again, the muddy, indistinctive instrumentation enters, topped off by the monotone vocals from Phil (i.e. every word delivered in the same tone; see "no variation whatsoever"), in addition to hilariously bad lyrics:
I do anything that I want!
I get everything that I ask!
And if this message bothers you,
Just kiss my f*cking as*hole!
"Hell Bound" aside, Reinventing the Steel definitely doesn't get much play from me, and it sadly only takes a quick listen to a few songs to understand exactly why. Though it's heavy metal with lightning-fast guitars and plenty of double-bass drumming, there's nothing more to it. The songs are void of power and emotion. Most of the time, it sounds as though the guys really weren't even trying. The fire in Pantera seemed to have almost completely died at this point (ironically, the album artwork depicts fire; kind of deceptive, eh?). It is a tragedy that this was their last album, and I would STRONGLY like to encourage anyone who has been unlucky enough to have had a "first encounter with Pantera's music" type of experience via Reinventing The Steel to get their other releases. They are usually not like this.
Ounce for ounce, decibel for decibel, few bands can even approach the fury that is Pantera. For years they have been unleashing their anger in front o...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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