click logo for homepage
 
 

	Vol.7, No 28, October 18, 1999
	Pantera still confident in its metal sound By Daniel Oliveira Daily Forty-Niner Turning furiously away from the hip-hop trend, Pantera will release next year what it considers another real heavy metal album.   "There's so much more than just scratching on a goddamn record player and yelling about some stupid ass sh--," guitarist Dimebag Darrell said.   Rock bands that explore hip-hop elements, including Korn and Limp Bizkit, are influencing American teenagers, but Darrell said this trend would not influence Pantera's upcoming album, scheduled for a January 2000 release.   "My roots are so deeply in the old school of metal that I have a hard time putting up with the new stuff," he said.   Darrell said his influences are rooted in bands like Judas Priest, Metallica, Van Halen, Black Sabbath and Slayer.   "The Slayer guys have been kings for a long time," Darrell said. "They put out an extremely heavy show. They are one of those bands with great records under their belts."   Slayer guitarist Kerry King, who has been invited to play on Pantera's next album, returns the compliment.   "Darrell is probably the best thrash metal guitar player who ever graced the scene," he said.   By releasing albums that do not conform to trends, Darrell and his band mates ? singer Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown and drummer Vinnie Paul ? have been crucial in keeping heavy metal alive in the United States.   When the alternative scene began dominating radio stations in the mid-1990s, Pantera released the fast, noisy and aggressive album "Far Beyond Driven," which entered the Billboard charts at No. 1.   Now that hip-hop oriented bands are dominating the charts, Darrell said he is still confident that Pantera will remain relevant with its upcoming album, currently untitled.   "I can promise you that Pantera will kick everybody's ass until it dies," Darrell said. "What we do is not affected by the new music of hip-hop, half this, half that." Besides heavy metal fans, Pantera has conquered respect from its peers.   "They went from a hard working bar band to a hard working arena band," Megadeth bassist David Ellefson said. "They deserve everything they've got."   "Pantera has some good movement in their songs," Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi said. "They [band members] are a great act and nice people."   Born in Dallas, Pantera has received three Grammy nominations and sold more than 8 million copies of its last four studio albums combined, according to Elektra records.		Pyramid concert details released   Sedan smacks into campus shuttle   Skateboarders defy on-campus rules   Campus art teaches about domestic abuse   Retiring professors leave voids in CSULB classrooms Closing Holly-wood   Little merit in background check Alumni share their FX secrets with campus   Pantera still confident in its metal sound   Conference shuffle may have domino effect Fall 99 ISSUES DAILY 49ER HOMEPAGE
Forty-Niner Publications, Department of Journalism, California State University, Long Beach ©1999 All rights reserved.