Pantera is an American heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas, formed in 1981 by the Abbott brothers, and currently composed of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, and touring musicians Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante. The group's best-known lineup consisted of the Abbott brothers along with Brown and Anselmo, who joined in 1982 and 1986 respectively. In addition to their development and popularization of the groove metal subgenre, Pantera is credited for being part of the second wave of thrash metal scene from the late 1980s to early-to-mid 1990s. Regarded as one of the most successful and influential bands in heavy metal history, Pantera has sold around 20 million records worldwide and has received four Grammy nominations.
Zachary Phillip Wylde is an American musician. He is best known as the lead guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and as the founder, lead guitarist, lead singer, songwriter and producer of the heavy metal band Black Label Society. His signature bulls-eye design appears on many of his guitars and is widely recognized. He was also the lead guitarist and vocalist of Pride & Glory, who released one self-titled album in 1994 before disbanding. As a solo artist, he released the albums Book of Shadows and Book of Shadows II. Wylde joined the reunited Pantera in 2022 as a touring guitarist.
Darrell Lance Abbott, best known by his stage name Dimebag Darrell, was an American musician. He was the guitarist of the heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan, both of which he co-founded alongside his brother Vinnie Paul. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest metal guitarists of all time.
Damageplan was an American heavy metal band from Dallas, Texas, formed in 2003. Following the demise of their previous group Pantera, brothers Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul Abbott wanted to start a new band. The pair recruited former Diesel Machine and Halford guitarist Patrick Lachman on vocals, and later Bob Zilla on bass. Damageplan released New Found Power, their only album, on February 10, 2004. New Found Power debuted at number 38 on the Billboard 200, selling 44,676 copies in its first week.
Vincent Paul Abbott was an American musician best known for being the drummer and co-founder of the heavy metal band Pantera. He also co-founded Damageplan in 2003 with his younger brother, 'Dimebag' Darrell Abbott, and was a member of Hellyeah for 12 years from 2006 until his death in 2018.
Patrick "Pat" Lachman is an American heavy metal guitarist and vocalist.
New Found Power is the only studio album released by the American heavy metal supergroup Damageplan. The group was formed by brothers "Dimebag Darrell" Abbott (guitar) and "Vinnie Paul" Abbott (drums) after the breakup of their previous band, Pantera. This is the final album that was released during Darrell's lifetime, before his death less than 10 months after the release.
STEMM is an American metal band from Niagara Falls, New York. STEMM was formed in 1998 by Joe Cafarella. He, along with Louie and Jimi Penque, Russ Martin, and Alex Scouten made up the original lineup of the band. Alex left the band in 1999, and was briefly replaced by guitarist Fred Blackwell. Rich Spalla replaced Fred shortly after. This lineup remained intact until 2003. Joe and Rich merged with drummer Danny Nelligan, bassist Stephen Crowl, and vocalist TJ Frost of Buffalo band 5 Years Gone, to create a new incarnation of the band. This lineup also saw a change in the musical direction of the band from Rapcore to more of a metal act.
Groove metal, sometimes also called neo-thrash or post-thrash, is a subgenre of heavy metal music that began in the early 1990s. Heavily influenced by thrash metal, groove metal features raspy singing and screaming, down-tuned guitars, heavy guitar riffs, and syncopated rhythms. Groove metal is usually slower than thrash. Pantera are often considered the pioneers of groove metal, and the genre expanded in the 1990s with bands including White Zombie, Machine Head, and Sepultura. Successful groove metal acts of the 2000s include Lamb of God, DevilDriver, and Five Finger Death Punch.
Chad Gray is an American singer, best known as the lead vocalist of heavy metal bands Mudvayne and Hellyeah.
"In This River" is a song by American heavy metal band Black Label Society, a power ballad featured on their 2005 sixth studio album Mafia. Performed entirely by guitarist, vocalist and pianist Zakk Wylde, it was released as the third single from the album and reached number 32 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
The Kiss Kasket is an item of merchandise licensed by the rock band Kiss. It is a casket decorated with a Kiss logo and pictures of the band members. In introducing the Kiss Kasket, Gene Simmons said, "I love livin', but this makes the alternative look pretty damn good." The Kiss Kasket went on sale in 2001; as of 2008, it was no longer available from Kiss' website. As of February 2011, the second-generation models of the Kiss Kasket became available on Kiss's website.
Jerry Bob Abbott is an American country music songwriter and record producer. He is the father of late heavy metal musicians Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell, both formerly of Pantera and Damageplan.
Big Vin Records was an American record label based in Arlington, Texas. The company was formed in February 2006 by former Pantera, Damageplan and Hellyeah drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott and had a distribution deal with Fontana Records, which in turn is owned by Universal Music Group.
Hellyeah, stylized as HELLYEAH, is an American heavy metal supergroup formed in Dallas, Texas, in 2006. The band's last lineup consisted of lead vocalist Chad Gray, guitarists Christian Brady and Tom Maxwell, bassist Kyle Sanders, and drummer Roy Mayorga. The idea to form a supergroup originated in 2000 on the Tattoo the Earth tour, although plans were constantly put on hold due to scheduling conflicts. The summer of 2006 allowed the band to take the project seriously and record its first album. Recorded at Chasin' Jason studio in Dimebag Darrell's backyard, their self-titled album entered the Billboard 200 at number 9, selling 45,000 copies. They went on to release five more studio albums between 2010 and 2019. As of 2021, the band is on hiatus.
Thomas Maxwell is an American musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist of heavy metal supergroup Hellyeah and the lead guitarist of alternative metal band Knives Out!. Previous bands include Nothingface in which he was a founding member. After Nothingface, Maxwell was involved in a band with Skrape vocalist Billy Keeton. In the 1980s, he was in thrash metal band Have Mercy. His style of playing and writing relies more on grooves and hooks rather than shredding and fast soloing.
Hellyeah is the debut album by American heavy metal band Hellyeah, featuring various members of Pantera, Mudvayne, Damageplan, and Nothingface. According to MusicMight, the band finished album recordings in January 2007, and the single "You Wouldn't Know" went to U.S. radio in late February. This is the only album to feature original bassist Jerry Montano.
Blood for Blood is the fourth studio album from American groove metal band Hellyeah. Produced by Kevin Churko, the album was released on June 10, 2014, through Eleven Seven Music. Producer Kevin Churko handled the bass duties in the studio due to the departure of Bob Zilla. Vocalist Chad Gray has stated he believes this album to be the band's strongest release.
On December 8, 2004, four people were murdered and three others were wounded in a mass shooting at the Alrosa Villa nightclub in Columbus, Ohio, United States. The main target of the attack was "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, who was on stage performing with his band Damageplan at the time of the shooting. Three minutes after opening fire, the perpetrator, 25-year-old Nathan Gale, was shot and killed by police officer James Niggemeyer.
