The Great Southern Trendkill

The Great Southern Trendkill
Studio album by Pantera
Released	May 7, 1996 (1996-05-07)
Recorded	Chasin Jason Studios, Dallas, Texas; vocals recorded at Nothing Studios, New Orleans, Louisiana
Genre	Groove metal
Length	53:01
Label	East West
Producer	Terry Date, Vinnie Paul
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Rolling Stone link
Pantera chronology
Far Beyond Driven (1994) The Great Southern Trendkill (1996) Official Live: 101 Proof (1997)

The Great Southern Trendkill is the eighth studio album by Pantera. It was released in May, 1996 through East West Records. It reached #4 on the Billboard Top 200 chart.

Due to tension within the band, Phil Anselmo recorded the vocals alone at Trent Reznor's Nothing Studios in New Orleans; Dimebag Darrell, Rex Brown and Vinnie Paul recorded the music at Chasin Jason Studios in Dallas, Texas.

Album Information

The Great Southern Trendkill features some of the fastest tempos and most down-tuned guitars that the band ever recorded. It also has a more experimental nature to its songs, such as the acoustic guitar and keyboard-laden "Suicide Note Pt. I".

Unlike Pantera's first three major label albums, the vocals are often double tracked and layered to create a more "demonic" effect. An example of this can be heard in the chorus of "13 Steps to Nowhere", when Phil Anselmo's singing voice is backed up by high pitched screaming, done by Seth Putnam of Anal Cunt infamy.^[1]

The lyrics tackle topics such as Anselmo's hate for the media ("War Nerve"), suicide ("Suicide Note Pt. I"), drug abuse ("10's", "Living Through Me (Hell's Wrath)") and the end of the world ("Floods"), and Anselmo's view on trends ("The Great Southern Trendkill", "Sandblasted Skin").

Floods, the album's longest song, contains a guitar solo considered by many to be Dimebag Darrell's finest. Guitar World magazine voted it as the 15th greatest guitar solo of all-time, Dimebag's highest ranking of three solos to make the list (the other two being his solos from Cemetery Gates, ranked 35th, and Walk, ranked 57th).

Reception

• Melody Maker (5/25/96, p.49) - "It makes my brain hurt, my eyes water and my genitalia retract like a startled turtle. I cannot think of higher recommendation, considering the kind of album it is. If it made me feel all warm and gooey or tearful and lovelorn, then it would be a pitiful failure by its own lights."

• Spin (7/96, p.96) - "...mature speedmetal and perfect summer fun: twisted power ballads, rap-style toasting, almost radio-worthy melodies, plus all the right jackhammer drum jolts, wrestler bellows, and guitar lurch..."

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Pantera. 

Credits

• Phil Anselmo – Vocals
• Dimebag Darrell – Guitar, Backing Vocals; 12 Strings Acoustic Guitar in "Suicide Note Pt I"
• Rex Brown – Bass, Backing Vocals
• Vinnie Paul – Drums, Production, Engineering, Mixing
• Seth Putnam of Anal Cunt - Additional screams on "The Great Southern Trendkill" "War Nerve", "13 Steps to Nowhere" , and "Suicide Note Pt II".
• Big Ross - Keyboards on "Suicide Note Pt I" and "Living Trough Me" .

Seth appears courtesy of Earache Records. Big Ross appears courtesy of himself.

Charting positions

Album

References