ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, FEB. 27, 1992
Would you let somebody punch you in the face for 300 bucks? Considering that knuckle sandwiches sometimes come for free, 300 smackers might not sound too bad. Then again, it depends who’s on the other end of the fist.
And whether or not dental coverage is thrown in.
According to Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul, the guy getting slugged on the cover of the band’s new album, Vulgar Display of Power, received $300 for his troubles. Along with a nice, fat lip.
“All I know is that it’s some guy from New York City,” says Paul of the unidentified human punching-bag. “We told ’em exactly what we wanted, and from what I understand, the guy had ice packs on his face for two days, so…he’s really gettin’ popped. It’s a vulgar display of power, right there.”
As you may have already guessed, aggression plays a sizeable part in this Dallas band’s approach to music. And when singer Philip Anselmo’s angry-as-hell lyrics combine with the group’s brutal sonic onslaught, the result—as brave headbangers will discover when the band opens for Skid Row at the PNE Forum this Wednesday (March 4)—is one of the raunchiest noises either side of Laramie.
So what—to use one of the new album’s song titles—makes Anselmo so “Fucking Hostile”?
“There’s a lot of things that make him angry,” explains Paul, “but he’s not necessarily writing anger in a negative fashion. He’s angry and he’s expressing a viewpoint, but it’s also an anger that turns positive, you know what I’m sayin’?”
The heavy doses of anger and aggression on Vulgar Display were channelled together by Seattle producer Terry Date, who is currently working in Vancouver with New York thrash-funkers 24-7 Spyz. Date’s credits also include Mother Love Bone, Soundgarden, and Screaming Trees, but Paul says he’s not concerned about the oh-so-trendy Seattle Sound rubbing off on his l’il loud band from Texas.
“Texas has a great music scene, but it’s very unique and diversified. Every band that has come out of Texas that you know of—King’s X, Stevie Ray Vaughan, ZZ Top, Pantera—they all have a distinctive sound about ’em, whereas the bands from Seattle tend to sound like bands from Seattle, and bands from L.A. sound like L.A. bands.
“That’s the cool thing about Texas, is everybody kinda has their own feel for what they’re doin’.”