Pantera — Cowboys From Hell

intothewellsabyss
Jul 24, 2023
7 min read

𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…

July 24, 1990 — Pantera released their fifth full-length studio album, Cowboys from Hell via ATCO Records. (Listen)

Background:

Cowboys from Hell marked the band's major label debut and their first collaboration with producer Terry Date. It is considered by some to be one of the first ever Groove Metal albums, while many have expressed that credit for Pantera’s change in musical direction on the album should go to the band Exhorder, who had a similar aesthetic (𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚜). (Cowboys From Hell music video)

Writing & Recording:

Writing sessions for Cowboys from Hell took place throughout 1988 and 1989. After being turned down "𝟸𝟾 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚋𝚢 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚖𝚊𝚓𝚘𝚛 𝚕𝚊𝚋𝚎𝚕 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙴𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚑", ATCO Records representative Mark Ross was asked by his boss, Derek Shulman (who was interested in signing Pantera), to see the band perform after Hurricane Hugo stranded him in Texas. Ross was so impressed by the band's performance that he called his boss that night, suggesting that Pantera be signed to the label.

Mark Ross on the performance;

"𝙱𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐, 𝚖𝚢 𝚓𝚊𝚠 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚛. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚌 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 — 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙 — 𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚠 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢. 𝙱𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚍𝚒𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚎‘𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙸 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗, 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚐𝚞𝚢𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔, '𝙷𝚘𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝!'?"

ATCO Records accepted but the band had to wait a six month period before they commenced recording at Pantego Sound Studio in Pantego, Texas.

Accounts vary as to how long the recording sessions of Cowboys from Hell lasted; bassist Rex Brown stated in a 2010 interview with Metal Hammer that the recording sessions took place from February to April 1990, however vocalist Phil Anselmo has also claimed that the album was recorded in 1989.

Pantera's initial choice as the producer for Cowboys from Hell was Max Norman based on his work with Ozzy Osbourne. Norman, who flew to Houston to watch the band perform, initially agreed to work on the album, but right before the recording sessions started, he was offered to produce Lynch Mob's debut album Wicked Sensation instead.

Pantera then proposed Terry Date to produce the album on the strength of his work with Soundgarden, Metal Church and Overkill, the latter of whose latest album at the time The Years of Decay had influenced Dimebag Darrell’s (then known as Diamond Darrell) guitar tone, as well as the band's transition away from Glam/traditional Heavy Metal to Thrash/Groove Metal.

Pantera adopted a new sound and attitude, and the writing of what would become Cowboys from Hell saw the band exploring darker subject matters, while the guitar would be notably heavier. The band recorded a self-produced demo album in 1989 which featured 11 tracks, 10 of which would make the album cut. The last two tracks to be written were Clash with Reality and Primal Concrete Sledge, while a song entitled The Will to Survive would be discarded early in the recording sessions.

The band were feeling confident about their material and themselves, finally feeling that they were making the kind of album they believed in. One key track to emerge during the writing was Cemetery Gates (music video), a seven-minute power ballad that would be the first song to show both their diversity and Anselmo's vocal range. Although they had already recorded four albums prior to Cowboys from Hell, the members of Pantera have since acknowledged this as their official debut album, working with a professional producer and a major label for the first time and creating music that was not simply stealing from other similar bands in an attempt to attract attention.

Album Art & Layout:

The cover art depicts the band in a quaint Western saloon. In reality, it is a 1910 photo of the "Cosmopolitan Saloon" in Telluride, Colorado with the bandmembers pasted over it. Dimebag (then known as Diamond Darrell) is pictured in the center playing guitar, while Vinnie Paul is standing to his right counting money, Rex Brown is leaning against the counter top and Phil Anselmo is shown jumping in the air to Brown's left. Anselmo states that he jumped off a bar stool to get high up in the air and that it took him about ten takes until the cameramen got the shot of the desired style.

Comparisons with Exhorder:

There has been controversy amongst Pantera's and Exhorder's fans over similarities between both bands' sound, fueled by the success of Pantera and the obscurity of Exhorder.

In disagreement with the opinion that Exhorder is "Pantera 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚜", AllMusic's review of Slaughter in the Vatican expresses that "𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚜 𝚊 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 Pantera 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚓𝚘𝚛 𝚕𝚊𝚋𝚎𝚕 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐."

They also point to the fact that the title of Exhorder's debut, along with the unsubtle album cover, "𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗‘𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 [𝚒𝚝𝚜] 𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚢."

Exhorder lead vocalist Kyle Thomas has stated that he does not care about any of the criticism and is sick of seeing Exhorder's name tied to Pantera's. He also stated that he and some members of Pantera were friends (particularly the latter's lead singer Phil Anselmo, who was a fan of Exhorder in their early days), and that he mourns the loss of Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell. Thomas has suggested that while it is possible Pantera may have been influenced by his band, the members of Pantera "𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔[𝚎𝚍] 𝚊 ... 𝚕𝚘𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 [𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢] 𝚍𝚒𝚍."

CFH Tour:

Pantera toured alongside thrash acts Exodus and Suicidal Tendencies.

In 1991, Rob Halford performed with the band onstage, which led Pantera (along with Annihilator) to open for Judas Priest on its first show in Europe (during the bands “Painkiller Tour”).

They also opened for bands like Sepultura, Fates Warning, Prong, Mind Over Four and Morbid Angel, and co-headlined a North American tour with Wrathchild America.

The band eventually landed a billing for what was usually billed as the Monsters Of Rock festival with AC/DC, Mötley Crüe, Metallica and The Black Crowes in September 1991, where they played to a crowd of over 500,000 in celebration of the new freedom of performing Western music in the former Soviet Union shortly before its collapse three months later.

Commercial Performance:

The album was released on July 24, 1990, and was available on tape, CD, vinyl and a limited edition version (same album but in a long box).

The album would become the band's breakthrough record as it became their first album to chart in 1992, reaching No. 27 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers.

In March 1995, the album entered the Swedish Charts for one week managing to peak at No. 46. It has since gone on to attain both Gold (500,000 units) and Platinum (1,000,000 units) certifications in the U.S. as well as Gold status in the U.K. for sales of 100,000.

Critical Reception:

The album has been praised by most critics as it would prove to be one of the most influential albums in the Metal scene in the 1990s and of all time, and would inspire a generation of musicians, particularly guitarists. IGN named Cowboys from Hell the 19th-most-influential Heavy Metal album of all time.

IGN said of the album;

“𝙰𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 “𝚅𝚞𝚕𝚐𝚊𝚛 𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝙿𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛”, 𝙿𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚊‘𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍’𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚢 ’𝟿𝟶𝚜 𝙼𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍‘𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚕 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚢𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎, 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚙𝚛𝚎-𝙳𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚋𝚊𝚐 𝙳𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚕 ) 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚜 𝙳𝚒𝚊𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝙳𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 (𝚛𝚒𝚙𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚡𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚍 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚕, 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕 𝙰𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚖𝚘 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚟𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚑𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚖 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚅𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚎 𝙿𝚊𝚞𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚁𝚎𝚡 𝙱𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚑𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚖𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚐𝚕𝚞𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚜𝚜.”

AllMusic said of the album;

“𝙿𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚊‘𝚜 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖, 𝙲𝚘𝚠𝚋𝚘𝚢𝚜 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝙷𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍,𝚜 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚛𝚑𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚖 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚝 𝙳𝚒𝚊𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝙳𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚕’𝚜 𝚞𝚗𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚌𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚛𝚑𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚖𝚒𝚌 𝚙𝚑𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜, 𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐.”

CFH Reissue:

On September 14, 2010, a 20th anniversary edition was released with a remastered mix from the original analog recordings.

The expanded edition features a bonus CD of previously unreleased live recordings and the Alive and Hostile EP.

The deluxe edition features an additional third CD with the previously unreleased demo track The Will to Survive (parts of the song were later used in the song This Love from Vulgar Display of Power) along with demo versions of ten songs from the original album.

Cowboys from Hell: The Demos -

The demos were recorded in 1989 and re-released on Black Friday 2010. Copies were limited to 3,000 180-gram pressings, with the vinyl including the custom cover and demos of the original tracks, as well as the previously unreleased demo cut The Will to Survive.

Re-released as the third disc of the deluxe set, Cowboys from Hell: The Demos, was released as a separate limited edition vinyl LP at the same time. It was exclusively available at Metal Club record stores. The 2010 reissue of the album managed to reach No. 117 on the Billboard 200 and No. 8 on Catalog Albums, selling 4,200.

Legacy:

The album was ranked No. 11 on the October 2006 issue of Guitar World magazine's list of the greatest 100 guitar albums of all time.

It was ranked the 85th-best heavy metal album of all time by Metal-Rules.com.

Along with IGN naming Cowboys from Hell the 19th-most-influential Heavy Metal album of all time, the album has also been credited as "defining" Groove Metal.

The album has been praised by Ozzy Osbourne, who in 2017 listed it among his ten favorite Metal albums.

Watch the official music video for Psycho Holiday

Watch the official music video for Cemetery Gates

Watch the official music video for Domination (Live)

Watch the official music video for Primal Concrete Sledge (Live)

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