Review Summary: A niche album that happens to be right in my niche
Isn’t it funny how if you say or do something ironically long enough, you can start to sincerely believe it? I still maintain that the Star Wars prequels’ resurgence can be directly tied to people memeing the hell out of them in recent years. I could only joke about other dudes’ bulges so many times before I realized that I might actually be bisexual. And to the point of this review, what started out as my tendency to reactionarily hail Power Metal as Pantera’s best album ever seems to have crossed over to genuine belief.
Cowboys from Hell certainly deserves its reputation as the album that exposed Pantera to the metal world at large, but this was where all the pieces were put into place. It may be best known as their first to feature vocalist Phil Anselmo, thus solidifying their most definitive lineup, but it’s also the culmination of their evolution during their oft-maligned glam years. Their early emulation of groups like KISS and Def Leppard has completely given way to heavier inspiration from Judas Priest and Metallica, and there are even shades of the groove metal to come on mid-tempo tracks like “We’ll Meet Again.”
The musicianship is also some of the most balanced of any Pantera album, bridging the early albums’ flamboyant prowess and the street grit of subsequent outings. While Anselmo’s mix of Rob Halford falsettos and David Lee Roth swagger lacks the quirks that would become his signatures as a vocalist, that is precisely why this is my favorite performance that he’s ever done. His techniques make him nigh unrecognizable but the confidence in his delivery makes it still easy to get behind. And as somebody who gets frequently annoyed by his bravado, his one-liners here are more rooted in silly fun than aimlessly trying to fight everybody.
Of course, the rest of the band still stands out. Previous albums had seen the Abbott brothers’ performances getting gradually stronger and this one sees them at the peak of their powers, Diamond Darrell’s guitar has that southern crunch getting more prominent yet never losing sight of the tight chugs and acrobatic soloing while drummer Vinnie Paul injects his hard rock beats with some faster patterns. Rex Brown’s bass also manages to have more presence than before though it’s not yet the foundational key that it would be through the nineties.
I also find the songwriting to be more consistent than any other album they released, largely avoiding the other glam releases’ limp-wristed trappings as well as the groove era’s experimental bull***. The one-two punch of “Rock the World” and the title track reminds me of the similar start on Slave to the Grind, the former serving as an anthemic buildup to the latter’s double bass-driven onslaught. “Over and Out” and “Proud to be Loud” are also distinct winners as each pairs stomping beats with catchy as hell choruses while “Hard Ride” adds some lighter AOR flair and a chorus that has shades of Priest’s “Rock Hard, Ride Free.”
Power Metal is the sort of album instantly destined for niche appeal, but that niche is one that’s seemingly tailor made to my exact taste. I could make some comment about how great it is if you just view it in a vacuum as some long lost USPM album but even if you compare it to Pantera’s more recognized outings, it serves as a very strong transitional effort. This may not be as innovative as Vulgar Display of Power, but the musicianship and songwriting are some of their strongest of any era. I would never expect a mass scale re-evaluation of Pantera’s eighties albums on par with the Star Wars prequels, but this one is the worthiest of a second thought. At the very least, it’s damn fun to listen to.
