Issue #56: Pantera – Vulgar Display of Power

Released:  February 25th, 1992

Recorded:  1991

Genre:  Groove Metal, Heavy Metal

Record Label:  Atco

Duration:  52:48

Producers:  Terry Date, Vinnie Paul

Personnel

Track Listing

Singles

Why Vulgar Display of Power is One of My Favorites

I got into Pantera (or this album at least) like I got into a lot of bands as a teen.  Pick a random song, buy a random record, and hope for the best.  Downloading music was an option back then, but dial-up speeds and 10 gigabyte hard drives made it a little more difficult than it is today.  I had vague recommendations from friends, an article from a band I liked mentioning a connection to a song I hadn’t heard, and the other haphazard references when it came to finding new music (soundtracks were also a great source; see my introduction for Volume 2), but really, getting into a band was a crap shoot.

When it came to Pantera, Cowboys From Hell was often cited as their quintessential album.  Somehow or another, I heard the song “Fucking Hostile,” and it was the only Pantera song I’d ever knowingly heard for quite some time, until I made it to a store and resolved to buy one of their albums.  I don’t remember exactly what the record store had on hand, but I do know they had Cowboys From Hell, from which I’d never heard anything, and another album I’d never heard of, Vulgar Display of Power, which actually had the one Pantera song I knew.  Nowadays I fully understand that bands change from album to album, and that liking a song from one album doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll like a band’s entire body of work.  Back then though, this concept hadn’t quite settled in.  And I was really, really itchin’ for Cowboys From Hell, but then again, some of me was smart enough to want to stick with the familiar.  I’m not sure how I made up my mind, though I know I ended up with Vulgar Display because it wasn’t until a few years later that I owned Cowboys.

At any rate, I’m glad I ended up with Vulgar Display because I think it’s definitely a better introduction to Pantera than Cowboys.  Is it better?  That’s a tough question; they’re both strong albums.  But I feel fairly certain that Vulgar Display made me more eager to check out Cowboys than Cowboys would’ve made me to check out Vulgar Display.  Vulgar Display of Power is a more polished and cohesive album, and with Pantera’s “groove” sound more developed, a more accessible album.

Fitting of its name, this record is loud, heavy, and aggressive.  The influence from thrash metal is obvious – most of these riffs would be at home in any thrash song.  The difference is that these guys have slowed it down (several songs are still plenty fast though; I use “slowed it down” in a relative sense), given most songs a basic verse-chorus structure, and fashioned a rhythm section that keeps these songs interesting.  Nearly every track has a standout riff, some of my favorites being “Mouth for War,” “Fucking Hostile,” and “Regular People.”

The shouting and the anger has a lot to do with the feel and mood of the album, but musically, it’s all about the guitars.  Dimebag nails a perfect sound between the purely rhythmic function that guitars would begin to serve in other burgeoning genres like grunge and alternative metal and the dominating role that the instrument has long held in traditional heavy metal styles.  It sounds just like metal slamming against metal, along with a certain electricity that brings it to life as it births and forms this record.  It still has cold, steely sound that would begin to disappear in the coming years.  Generally I’m all about the crunch and the buzz of guitars, but this is something a little bit different…it’s a sound that punches, slams, even slices.  Even without all of the other aspects to enjoy, every second of guitar on the album is worth hearing.

Vulgar Display of Power kind of reminds me of a more eccentric and diverse version of Metallica’s self titled release (otherwise known as The Black Album).  Constant tempo changes make the fairly long running time pass quickly, and even though nearly every song contains the wonderfully tight, abrasive, “boom” of Dimebag’s guitar, each one has a life of their own as well.  “Rise” contains some very thrashy portions with blistering drumming just before the chorus, as does “Fucking Hostile.”  “No Good” is thrashiest of all, slowed down just enough to stave off monotony.  “This Love” starts out a lot like Metallica’s “Unforgiven” with the melancholy acoustic guitar; Anselmo even does some actual singing tinged with a bit of roughness…until…a growl (“I’d kill myself for you…I’d kill you for myself”)…and then an amazing ass-kicking chorus, guitars blazing, with a call and response thing going on in the vocal department.  “Hollow” is the record’s ballad, while “By Demons Be Driven” dips its toes in experimental waters.

Maybe it’s just me, but I hear hints of hardcore punk in Anselmo’s vocals.  “Walk” and “Fucking Hostile” come to mind in particular, as do the angry and confrontational lyrics that permeate the majority of the record.  “A New Level” has a start-stop element at home in hardcore as well.  Stereotypically speaking, metalheads might be nerds, weirdos, or have some strange fixations, but it’s usually the punks that get the reputation for being shirtless brawlers, fueled by alcohol and amphetamines, angry at…well, anything.  Pantera brings this trope of hardcore punk rockers to Vulgar Display of Power.  (Well, they did it first in Cowboys From Hell, but it’s definitely more fully realized on Vulgar Display.)  I can’t stress how in-your-face this music is; it is all out fight music.  The combination works though, and I can imagine how refreshing this emerging approach was back in the early 90’s when all we had were glam metal bands singing about some sort of alternate reality where drugs aren’t bad for you and women are cool with being objects, and on the other side of the spectrum were the standard heavy metal bands going on about dragons, trolls, and other fantastical subjects.  I’m not saying there isn’t a place for those sorts of escapism in music, but it’s also nice to have something a little more real, something that a singer or band can channel real human emotion into.

When I was listening to this record the most, somewhere between the ages of 14 and 17, I had no idea what “sludge metal” was.  Hell, I probably didn’t even really understand the “groove metal” category that Vulgar Display of Power best falls under.  What I did recognize were the frequent changes in tempo, the start-stop stop nature of many of the songs, and deep roar of the guitars.  Today, as I listened to it a couple of times through, I realized just what an influence Pantera had on the entire sludge metal movement.  None of these songs are really “sludgy” enough to be fully classified as such, but some tracks come close, especially “Live in a Hole.”

Vulgar Display of Power was a bit much for me when I first got it.  Aside from “Fucking Hostile,” I latched onto “Rise,” “This Love,” and “Mouth for War,” and those were really the only ones I paid much attention to for a while.  It wasn’t until my later teen years that the album really started to click with me.  I guess that after hearing what ultra-heavy underground music really sounded like, I realized that Pantera was doing something a little different here.  At first it was just harsh and a little bit of an overload for me, but as I began to see how soulless a lot of “real metal” was (you know, anything that hasn’t sold more than 18 copies), and seeing that these musicians seemed more interested in displaying their raw talent with their instrument rather than bothering to write engaging songs, I saw a different side to Vulgar Display.  Suddenly, the anger and the pain breathed life into the music and the varying rhythmic elements were like an oasis in a desert of relentless blast beats.

This is an album that leaps forth and comes to life in a way that few others do.  There isn’t a damn thing that’s subtle or restrained about it, and I love its unforgiving, take-it-or-leave-it approach.  Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between angst and frustration, and outright anger; let Vulgar Display of Power be a vulgar display of the latter.

Written by The Cubist

Back to The Cubist’s 90’s Albums

Written by The Cubist

Widget not in any sidebars
Co-founder, Head Author, & Site Technician

Find out what these ratings mean and how I rate video games.

I collect as much video gaming paraphernalia as I can get my hands on, especially when it comes to hardware. With over 40 systems including oldies like the ColecoVision and Intellivision, obscurities like the CD-i and 3DO, and the latest and greatest including the Wii U, PS4, Xbox One, 3DS, and PS Vita, I get easily overwhelmed. Most of the time you can find me firmly nestled sometime between 1985 and 1995 when it comes to my games of choice, but I’m also having a great time seeing what the 8th generation has to offer.

Currently in love with: Mortal Kombat

Email me anytime, about anything: thecubist@butthole.nerdbacon.com