Pantera
USA, 1981–2003
Texas band credited with establishing groove metal. Dimebag Darrell's riffing and Phil Anselmo's shouted delivery on Vulgar Display of Power set a template for heavy music in the 1990s.
MusicRoots documents 9 artists who influenced Pantera and 6 artists Pantera influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.
Who influenced Pantera?
- Van Halen — Dimebag's first hero, named in interview after interview. He won the Dean ML he played for the rest of his life by performing 'Eruption' note for note at fifteen.
- Kiss — Ace Frehley specifically. Dimebag used to skip school and paint his face in Frehley's make-up.
- Slayer — The turn away from glam. Anselmo dates his own conversion to Dimebag playing him 'At Dawn They Sleep'.
- Black Flag — Where the vocal comes from. Anselmo's delivery is modelled on hardcore singers rather than on metal ones, which is what makes Vulgar Display of Power sound like it does.
- Anthrax — Named among the band's influences, and the thrash record closest to what Cowboys from Hell does with a groove.
- Led Zeppelin — The blues underneath the metal — the swing in Dimebag's riffing that separates groove metal from thrash.
- Iron Maiden — The twin-guitar and the gallop, from the years before the band found its own sound.
- Black Sabbath — Pantera's cover of 'Planet Caravan' (Far Beyond Driven) is an official act of Sabbath homage; the band cited Sabbath as heaviness itself.
- Judas Priest — Priest's metallic precision was the model of Pantera's pre-groove years and Dimebag's riff school.
Which artists did Pantera influence?
- Korn — Jonathan Davis credited Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell's groove-metal riffing directly: 'if there was no Dimebag Darrell, there would be no Korn.'
- Disturbed — Pantera's groove-metal riffing is among the metal foundations Disturbed drew on.
- Bullet for My Valentine — Pantera's groove-metal heaviness feeds the crunch and aggression of Bullet for My Valentine's sound.
- Shinedown — Pantera's groove-metal heaviness feeds the crunch of Shinedown's heavier material.
- Lamb of God — Pantera's groove-metal is the bedrock of Lamb of God — their crushing, syncopated riffing descends directly from Dimebag Darrell.
- Machine Head — Pantera's groove-metal power is a direct influence on Machine Head's chugging, mid-paced heaviness.