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Brothers "Dimebag" Darrell (guitar) and Vinnie Paul (drums) are back with a plan, a Damageplan, so the Damageplan website says. After Pantera's split with bassist Rex Brown and singer Philip Anselmo, the latter joining up with Super Joint Ritual, the brothers formed Damageplan. First off "Breathing New Life" does not sound like any Pantera CD. Yes, Darrell's ultra distorted, down-tuned riffs are as loud and heavy as ever, as is Vinnie's machine gun drumming, with the proper amounts of double-bass. There are two distinct halves to the CD, the first half, with Pantera style riffs and drum lines with a hardcore flair and the second half which can best be described as radio friendly metal or hardcore. The radio friendly Damageplan is nothing like Linkin Park or even radio friendly hardcore like Thursday, it's infinitely better.
Dimebag and Vinnie selected former Halford, Rob Halford of Judas Priest, guitarist Patrick Lachman for the vocals and an unknown, Bob Zilla, on bass. Lachman is a surprisingly good vocalist, not of the caliber of a Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden) or Tim Owens (Iced Earth), with a good range. He can handle the generic hardcore primal growl of vocals, which was Anselmo's forte in Pantera, but Lachman also has the ability to hit the higher notes. When Lachman actually sings Damageplan becomes a much better metal band, check out his wailing on the cuts "Pride", "Blink of an Eye", and "Explode". Lachman however is an adequate vocalist however with nothing overly special to distinguish him from other metal vocalists.
Where Damageplan really shine, and this is obvious for Pantera fans, is Dimebag's guitar skills. At first it was a little disappointing to hear Dimebag give up his solos and thrash metal chops for a more riff based hardcore but the results are very good. The riffs on the tracks are memorable, with hardcore chugging on "Wake Up" to a more groove based structure as on "Blink of an Eye"to the all acoustic album closer "oul Bleed" The solos are more restrained, which is interesting for a band with a guitarist as talented as Dimebag. He really doesn't get started burning up the fretboard until the fourth track, "Pride". However, the wah-wah pedal is back in action and he really uses it to full effect on most tracks, especially "Moment of Truth". The track that will mostly like have Pant era fans screaming "sellout!" is "Soul Bleed", which is ironic because it's probably the best written song on the entire CD. Zakk Wylde, guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and Black Label Society, guests on the cut. It sounds almost exactly like an Alice In Chains song. Lachman, with backing vocals from Wylde, sounds almost exactly like Layne Stanley with Dimebag and Wylde's guitar filling in for Jerry Cantrell.
So is Damageplan as good as Pantera? If it's Pantera circa Cowboys from Hell and Vulgar Display of Power, than no, but if it's Pantera after those two albums, than yes Damageplan is better. Everything on the album is done extremely well, production values, lyrics, and instrument levels, all the technical stuff is there. What's missing are Dimebag's fretboard acrobatics, especially on the solos, and a vocalist with more personality. In short Damageplan's debut is fist pumping head banging metal and Pantera fans should definitely go out and buy it, yes buy it.
| other reviews of this album |
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Album Rating: 2.0
The album's called "New Found Power"
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You got the album title wrong.
*hires little girls to point and laugh*
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haha!!! *points and laughs*
could you do a song by song review with a rating and such?
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haha oh. i did, well thanks guys. i wrote the review for my college A&G mag good thing the article isn't due just yet.
shredder if you want me to do a song by song review i will and i'll rate each song.
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[QUOTE=Crocto]shredder if you want me to do a song by song review i will and i'll rate each song.[/QUOTE]
:thumb: thanks that's what i was lookin for
check out a few of the other reviews, especially the ones by Scarred4Life
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Wake Up - This is an obvious slap at Anselmo/Superjoint Ritual. It’s got a pretty cool main riff. The solo isn’t anything special, but it’s decent. Vocals are ok, sticks to the basic hardcore growl. (3/5)
Breathing New Life - Really good churning riff. Drumming is really good nice double bass and fills. Solo is good too, not blisteringly fast but one of the better ones on the albums has a neat little effect. The problem with this solo is it seems to get cut off for whatever reason. Vocals again are decent. (4/5)
New Found Power - More of a thrash song, so it’s a more Pantera sound if that’s what you’re after. Some more double bass action. Solo isn’t really anything special, or long. It’s not a bad song but it’s nothing great. (2.5/5)
Pride - Finally they cut Dimebag loose on the solo it only took four tracks, geez! The solo is really kick-***, possibly the best one on the CD, good wah-wah use. Lyrics are good, less grunting more singing with a little Bruce Dickinson style wail. It’s got some slow part so if that’s not your bag sorry, but it’s a **** good song give it a listen. (4.5/5)
**** You - More grunting, more big loud riffs. Nothing really special also not as good Breathing New Life. Probably another slap at Anselmo. Its got a good thrash feel but that’s really about it. (2.5/5)
Reborn - Its back to the hardcore feel with this one. Both solos are pretty good they both have some nice wah-wah use. The second, end solo, is better. The main riff is also pretty good. The vocals are a combo of growl, wail, and scream so there’s some variety. (3/5)
Explode - This one is a thrash/hardcore mixture its pretty good. One of the faster songs on the CD. The main riff is pretty sweet, fairly simple. Uses the soft verse/loud chorus like Nirvana and the Foo Fighters do so well. The solo is pretty good too. The vocals are decent uses more of the hardcore scream, again. (3/5)
Save Me - One of the radio friendly cuts on the CD. Its actually really good, kicks the crap out of that Linkin Park, Thrice, and Darkness stuff. He finally sings on this one and he’s got a decent voice. More nice wah effects from Dimebag, also the verse riff is pretty cool. The solo is pretty good too; it has a funky groove to it. (4/5)
Cold Blooded - Back to the hardcore scream/growl. The riffs are the best part of the song. There’s a nice variety of low, mid, and high throughout. Some trash-type riffs too. Dimebag also breaks out a few more funky ones, which are pretty sweet. The solo is good too with a good overdub. (4/5)
Crawl - Basic hardcore style again similar to Cold Blooded. Until the middle section very slow and melodic, think of the interlude in Master of Puppets, but not as good. Still a nice break with a good echo effect. Another big churning riff from Dimebag. (3/5)
Blink of an Eye - The second best song on the CD. Overall it kicks ***. Main riff has a nice volume/wah swell. The solo, well its not really a solo but more a very funky groovy riff. He starts the singing again and its very good. Not much to say but its one of the best on the CD. (4.5/5)
Blunt Force Trauma - Similar to Blink of an Eye, but less radio friendly. The lyrics are a little hokey, the singer also sounds like the dude from Godsmack on this. The solo is really what saves this song, very awesome one of the best on the CD. (3/5)
Moment of Truth - Longest song on the CD its pretty good. The solo is really good. Not much else to say but a slow paced cruncher. Shades of Cemetery Gates. (3/5)
Soul Bleed - Best song on the CD. Especially, if you’re an Alice in Chains fan like me. I swear I thought Jerry Cantrell was on guitar and Layne Stanley was singing. Awesome. (5/5)
hope its helpful. this should be in the same order as it is on the CD.
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k, i will edit the title.
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Booo to song-by-songs, I don't know why people like that crap so much.
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thansk sting.
bigsby i guess it helps them in downloading certain songs. ya know instead of paying the 15 bucks. but hey i don't tell them what they can or can't do.
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Good album some songs i wasnt overkeen on e.g. explode, wake up and crawl but apart from that a very good album pride is my favourite i love it :thumb:
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damageplan are rubbish, listen to real music
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i didnt like there vocals as much
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I'd much rather listen to Superjoint and Down than them, tho I side with Dime and Vinnie for the whole Pantera breakup. I think that Damageplan is one of those new talent-devoid bands who pose in the mainstream.. I swear, all the cool ol dudes from kickass bands are changing and going nu-metal these days.. anyone hear about Dave Ellefson's new band, 'F5'? Something tells me that it will be ****ty.
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[QUOTE=Griffin_Page]I'd much rather listen to Superjoint and Down than them, tho I side with Dime and Vinnie for the whole Pantera breakup. I think that Damageplan is one of those new talent-devoid bands who pose in the mainstream.. I swear, all the cool ol dudes from kickass bands are changing and going nu-metal these days.. anyone hear about Dave Ellefson's new band, 'F5'? Something tells me that it will be ****ty.[/QUOTE]
I must admit this album didnt live up to wat dime and vinnie were saying it was gona be but it did have some high points mainly pride and save me should have solo'd more in my opinion 
I have heard about this F5 thing and im not sure of it either
he plays bass on soulfy - prophecy so i am wondering if he will be doing the tour with them.
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[QUOTE=DimebagDarrell]I must admit this album didnt live up to wat dime and vinnie were saying it was gona be but it did have some high points mainly pride and save me should have solo'd more in my opinion
I have heard about this F5 thing and im not sure of it either
he plays bass on soulfy - prophecy so i am wondering if he will be doing the tour with them.[/QUOTE]
I hated Save Me for one, as I tend to hate most pop songs. Breathing New Life I didn't like either, the riffs on this whole album were horrible.
They did better than Metallica did on St. Anger tho.
As for the F5/Soulfly thing, I'm pretty sure Dave is going mallcore. Playing in Soulfly is one thing, and the whole F5 thing is geared towards a "new exciting heavy style".. I don't plan on listening to it.
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damageplan sucks. i love dime and vinnie but **** DP sucks ***
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superjoint didn't really impress me...it was actually pretty boring at least with damageplan you get dimebag tearing it up, check out "pride".
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damageplan suck ***. i saw them last year and they were crap
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[QUOTE=Griffin_Page]I'd much rather listen to Superjoint and Down than them, tho I side with Dime and Vinnie for the whole Pantera breakup. I think that Damageplan is one of those new talent-devoid bands who pose in the mainstream.. I swear, all the cool ol dudes from kickass bands are changing and going nu-metal these days.. anyone hear about Dave Ellefson's new band, 'F5'? Something tells me that it will be ****ty.[/QUOTE]
:smash: F5 stuff is heavy :thumb: - Dave E. is finally getting to show his stuff along with guys who are not control freaks! :cool: Looking forward to hear more about F5, see their shows and get a cd of their stuff. I heard one of their songs and Wow! It kicks ***!!! :evil: m/
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[QUOTE=Metal Goddess~]:smash: F5 stuff is heavy :thumb: - Dave E. is finally getting to show his stuff along with guys who are not control freaks! :cool: Looking forward to hear more about F5, see their shows and get a cd of their stuff. I heard one of their songs and Wow! It kicks ***!!! :evil: m/[/QUOTE]
'Kickass' like Slipknot or kickass like Megadeth?
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