18th December 2019

Under The Influence #25: Cynical Existence on “Vulgar Display of Power” by Pantera!

There can’t be a single Metal Head on Planet Earth who hasn’t heard of Pantera. The legacy of the dearly departed Abbott brothers, Philip H. Anselmo and of course Rex Brown is one which will go on for decades to home. Arguably their finest album “Vulgar Display Of Power” may have been released 27 years ago in 1992 but it is as relevant now as it ever was and has influenced several generations of Metal bands. It’s one we could wax lyrical about at length with every single song being absolute class -“Walk“, “A New Level“, “This Love” and so on – but we don’t need to. Why? Because Cynical Existence picked it for this week’s Under The Influence!

Fredrik, vocalist and synthesisers for Cynical Existence comments: “The first time I heard the track “F***ing Hostile” I knew that I wanted to be a vocalist! The raw power of Philip Anselmo’s voice was uncomparable to me and at that moment I knew I wanted to be a vocalist in a metal band. “F***ing Hostile” has some much energy and so much raw and amazing power! It’s heavy and its fast but still maintains melodic parts and you can’t help but to love it! This was my first real step into the Metal World, of course I’ve had heard other bands before, but nothing quite like Pantera – and – this is also why they remain such a big influence even to this day. There will be no album that is closer to my heart than “Vulgar Display of Power” and I doubt there will ever be. Don’t get me wrong, there are so many many good albums out there. But this one is to me, the best one! Songs like “F***ing Hostile“ “Mouth For War” “This Love” “Hollow” and the rest, it’s just a damn masterpiece!”