25 years ago today, Pantera released their most extreme album yet, The Great Southern Trendkill. The album is full of aggression, but also full of pain as the Phil Anselmo’s demons played out in the music. In honor of its anniversary, I’m sharing 5 facts about The Great Southern Trendkill that you should know. Plus, I recently picked this badass Pantera dress from one of my favorite small businesses, so of course I had to share the details with you.
Band Merch of the Month: The Pantera Band Tee Dress
Before we get into the 5 facts about The Great Southern Trendkill, let’s talk about this one of a kind Pantera dress from Ronchie Gear. Made from an officially licensed Pantera band tee, it’s super lightweight, soft, and stretchy. Also, you know how clothing with lots of slashes or holes can be confusing to put on? This is one dress that I didn’t have that problem with.
From the minute I laid eyes on this dress, I knew I needed it in my collection. My favorite thing about it is how Ronchie Gear used the tour dates portion of the shirt as the back of the skirt. Because there are a lot of slashes in the dress, I was nervous how it would look on me. But when I saw the back, I decided to take the risk. Then when it arrived, it fit like a dream. And with it being super comfortable, I knew I made the right choice.
While this dress is one of a kind, Ronchie Gear has other ready to wear items available in her shop. She also accepts custom orders as well. For more info on Ronchie Gear as well as other small businesses that reconstruct officially licensed merch, check out this list.
I paired this dress with these stunning earrings previously gifted to me by Volta Joules. They feature emerald stones, swords, and skulls with bat wings which are completely up my alley. Volta Joules has similar pieces available featuring a wide variety of different stones. If you’re in the market for new accessories, I highly recommend checking out her shop.
5 FACTS ABOUT The Great Southern Trendkill THAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Now that you have the details on this badass Pantera dress, it’s time for your lesson in Heavy Music 101. Here’s 5 facts about The Great Southern Trendkill that you should know.
1. While Vinnie, Dime, and Rex recorded in Dallas, Phil Anselmo recorded his vocals alone at Trent Reznor’s studio in NOLA.
This is one fact about the record that really sets the scene for what was going on with Pantera behind closed doors. While Vinnie, Dime, and Rex recorded at Chasin’ Jason Studios in Dallas, TX, Phil recorded vocals separately at Trent Reznor’s Nothing Studios in New Orleans, LA. The band was clearly divided. However, the reason wouldn’t become public knowledge until after the album’s release. We’ll get into more on that below.
2. Chasin’ Jason Studios in Dallas was actually a converted RV Garage in Dimebag’s backyard, not a professional recording studio.
Initially, Pantera was to record the album in Dallas at a professional studio. But after playing in what started as Dime’s jam room, the band changed their plans. Dime added 3 walls to create the studio but Pantera still experienced sound issues when recording the instrumentals.
Rex Brown said, “It was quite an experience. We had built all these iso-cabs to get the sound down, but we had a huge phase control problem. That’s why it’s called Chasin’ Jason Studios because there would always be something fucking wrong. There was a buzz going through the whole fucking place. And that on top of the fact that we were making our most experimental record ever, something that sometimes didn’t even have a coherent structure to it, made us all crazy.”
3. Phil Anselmo’s battle with addiction was a contributing factor to the overall tone of the album.
This is especially apparent on songs like “Suicide Note Pt. 1” and “Living Through Me (Hell’s Wrath)”. But even though he was struggling on a personal level, this didn’t take away Anselmo’s vocal performance. In fact, it wasn’t until his heroin overdose on July 13, 1996 after a show in Dallas that it would be publicly addressed.
When asked about Anselmo’s addiction and behavior during the recording process, producer Terry Date said, “I saw a lot of it away from the studio, but, as far as when we were in the studio together, Phil was always on his game. He’d come in with his lyric sheets every day and he’d underline every lyric that he wanted to double track, and he would be there for two hours getting it done and then leave.”
4. The music video for “Drag The Waters” was directed by Dimebag Darrell.
Dimebag was sort of known for always having his video camera on him, at least most of the time. But his directorial skills weren’t just for the Pantera home videos that fans know and love. Dimebag directed the video for “Drag The Waters”, which is in black and white and features both performative shots as well as scenes with a narrative.
5. Dimebag’s iconic solo in “Floods” originated from a regular, improvised solo he played live before Pantera was signed.
Dimebag told Guitar World that when the band was still playing small clubs, he would play a 20 minute solo which included songs like Van Halen’s “Eruption” and Ozzy’s “Revelation (Mother Earth)”. He’d also throw in whatever else he wanted to ad-lib. As Dime further explained, “A regular part of my solo featured a long-assed, “sing-along” type lead section, which has ended up in a new song called “Floods.”
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