PANTERA will release a 20th-anniversary edition of its final album, "Reinventing The Steel", on September 18.
Bassist Rex Brown confirmed the release date for the "Reinventing" reissue in an interview last Friday (July 24) with SiriusXM's "Debatable", where he discussed the 30th anniversary of PANTERA's "Cowboys From Hell" LP.
"We do have another record coming out this year, in September," Rex said. "It's 'Reinventing The Steel', which was our last record. We just finished remixing and remastering that⊠'Reinventing The Steel' comes out on September the 18th, and the vinyl of that [will come out on] Black Friday, which is a three-vinyl set of all kinds of stuff that hasn't been out before, from the 'Reinventing The Steel' [era]."
Released on March 21, 2000, "Reinventing The Steel" was certified gold, peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard charts. Along with the singles "Revolution Is My Name" and "I'll Cast A Shadow", the album's other standout tracks include "Death Rattle" and "Goddamn Electric", which features a guest guitar solo by SLAYER's Kerry King.
In a 2012 interview with Revolver magazine, PANTERA drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott stated about "Reinventing The Steel": "I felt like things had turned a corner. I felt like Phil [Anselmo, vocals] had discovered some of these demons and maybe had some people around him that wanted to help instead of taking the other direction. We kind of wanted to go back and really grab some of the things that people liked the most about 'Vulgar ['Display Of Power]' and 'Cowboys [From Hell]', and Phil's exact words were that he wanted to make a record that was 'more anthemic,' lyrically. More stuff that people could sing along to. Dime [PANTERA guitarist 'Dimebag' Darrell Abbott] spent a lot of time in the studio with Phil working with him on his vocal arrangements and melodies."
Anselmo concurred, telling the magazine: "I had kind of cleaned my act up. I had a new fire lit under my ass. Dimebag and I were very close on this one. I showed up for the jam sessions, and I think they were impressed with how I was. I wasn't all fucked up constantly. It was a breath of fresh air. I guess I was dealing with the pain in a better way at the time, and if I was using, it was minimal and very spotty. But there was a renewed bit of brotherhood. There was a renewed sense of enjoyment with the songwriting. I spent a lot of time at Dimebag's house on the particular run. I remember his mother passed away, when we were doing that record, from cancer. I was a pallbearer at the funeral. So it was a bonding thing as well. Somebody's mother passes and it's a big thing. Especially her. She was a big part of their lives, in my life, and in Rex's life. It was a heavy deal. I was there for it. I love that record."
Rex said that he found it difficult to look back on "Reinventing The Steel" knowing that it marked PANTERA's final studio effort. "This record is the end, so it's hard to talk about," he said. "To me, it's a great last performance. One thing we always said is, 'You're only as good as your last show.' Or your last note, or the last thing you do. Because you don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. It could all end. And I'll be goddamned if it didn't."
