Pantera "The Great Southern Trendkill (1996, CD, East West Japan)"

The Great Southern Trendkill is the eighth studio album by American heavy metal band Pantera, released on May 7, 1996 by EastWest Records. It reached number 4 on the Billboard 200 chart, and managed to stay on the chart for over 16 weeks. Due to tension and conflicts within the band, Phil Anselmo recorded the vocals alone at Trent Reznor’s Nothing Studios in New Orleans while Dimebag Darrell, Rex Brown and Vinnie Paul recorded the music at Chasin Jason Studios in Dallas.

“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 19th 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).

The album is available as downloadable content for Rock Band, with the exception of “Suicide Note Pt. I”. “10’s” was featured in the Funimation dub of the Dragon Ball Z film Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan in 2003.

Being Pantera’s most aggressive album to date, The Great Southern Trendkill is known for featuring lots of screaming, most notably on “Suicide Note Pt. II” and “The Great Southern Trendkill” while also featuring some of the fastest tempos and most down-tuned guitars (“The Underground in America” and “(Reprise) Sandblasted Skin” were played in drop G tuning) that the band ever recorded. It also has a more experimental nature, such as the acoustic guitars and ballads.

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 the band Anal Cunt. Screams done by Phil Anselmo on the song “The Great Southern Trendkill” were compared Seth Putman.

The lyrical themes on The Great Southern Trendkill include drugs, a flood that ends mankind, finding deeper meaning, anger and the media. The album features elements of thrash metal and death metal while still being a groove metal album.

On August 12, 2016, Pantera announced via social media that a 20th anniversary edition of The Great Southern Trendkill would be released on October 21. The reissue will feature two discs, including a remastered version of the original album as well as 12 unreleased tracks. These are expected to include instrumentals, as well as alternative mixes and live recordings from the Dynamo Festival in 1998. In addition, a separate LP named The Great Southern Outtakes will be released. This LP will consist of songs also released on disc 2 of Trendkill’s reissue.

Track listing

All tracks written by Pantera.

1. "The Great Southern Trendkill" 3:47
2. "War Nerve" 4:53
3. "Drag the Waters" 4:55
4. "10's" 4:49
5. "13 Steps to Nowhere" 3:37
6. "Suicide Note Pt. I" 4:44
7. "Suicide Note Pt. II" 4:19
8. "Living Through Me (Hells' Wrath)" 4:50
9. "Floods" 6:59
10. "The Underground in America" 4:33
11. "(Reprise) Sandblasted Skin" 5:39

Total length: 53:05

Japanese edition bonus track

1. "Walk" (Live at the Hollywood Palladium, CA 6/27/1992) 5:29

Trivia:

- The album peaked at #4 on the Billboard 200.

There is a hidden track (0:41) after "(Reprise) Sandblasted Skin".

Recording information:

Recorded in DWG, TX at Chasin Jason Studios.

Mixed in Los Angeles, CA at Larrabee Sound Studios.

Vocals recorded at Nothing Studios, New Orleans, LA.

Mastered at Future Disc & Sterling Sound.

All songs written & arranged by Pantera.