Pantera ‘Driven’ Deeper Underground

PANTERA

“Far Beyond Driven”

EastWest

* * *

Heavier and more unrelenting with each successive release, Pantera blurs the line between guttural, Henry Rollins-style Angst and its own tightly wound, slow metallic burn on this third album. It should certainly cement Pantera’s credibility in the more underground arena populated by the likes of Sepultura.

Even though it entered the charts at No. 1 last week, mainstream fans beware--this music isn’t for the faint of ear. Singer Phil Anselmo’s throat-punishing growl atop thundering, slow grooves makes for an assault on the senses that, except for a mellow Black Sabbath tune, is truly merciless.

The album starts off with the jackhammer bludgeoning and spooky guitar melodies of “Strength Beyond Strength,” and from there the Texas-based quartet delves into its specialty--weighty, riff-oriented power grooves--with a vengeance.

The tracks are as heavy and angry lyrically as they are musically. Produced by Pantera’s drummer Vinnie Paul and Terry Date (Soundgarden), “Far Beyond Driven” is ferocious and dynamic, but without the musical diversity that characterized the band’s first two albums.

Still, for the 13-to-24 male audience, Pantera’s formidable command of the killer slo-mo riff is enough.

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).