Official Live

After seven long years of almost non-stop touring, Pantera personally chose these 16 songs as the creme de la creme, the definitive live Pantera experience. All well and good, we can only hope the folks up front had kneepads and mouthpieces, because this is not for the faint of heart. This is incendiary thrash metal; full-speed-ahead sonic mayhem, from the churning grunge of "Becoming" to the jackhammer assault of "Hostile". "New Level", the disc's opener, pretty much defines the experience here; vocals are shouted rather than sung, drums are attacked with fury and vengeance, guitars scream and churn and ring out like the very bells of Hades...well, you get the idea. There are two new songs here as well, which the band recorded during a 12-day break in their hectic tour schedule.