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Z2 Comics reaches "a new level" in 2022 with the release of an ambitious graphic anthology paying tribute to one of the biggest bands in the history of heavy metal, whose innovative fusion of groove and hardcore served as one of the defining sounds of the 1990s:
PANTERA.
"We're really happy and excited to have this graphic novel come out for the fans, and to be a part of something special, as it pertains to its artists and creators,"
PANTERA vocalist
Philip Anselmo explains.
"Check out our killer new
'Vulgar' graphic novel. Can't wait to check all of it out!! And neither will you!!"
PANTERA bassist
Rex Brown says.
In the grand tradition established by
Z2, the
"Vulgar Display Of Power" graphic novel unites famous fans of the band throughout comics and music to team up on adaptations of all eleven of the album's tracks. Creators including
Alan Robert (LIFE OF AGONY),
Eric Peterson (TESTAMENT),
Keith Buckley (EVERY TIME I DIE),
Burton C. Bell (FEAR FACTORY) and
Steve Niles ("30 Days Of Night"), and illustrators
Brian Ewing,
Erik Rodriguez,
Ryan Kelly,
Steve Chanks,
Kevin Mellon,
John Pearson and
Danijel Zezelj will each offer a unique interpretation inspired by the lyrics and music to create a whole new way to experience this landmark work of heavy art.
Fronting this legacy of admiration and talent, legendary tattoo artist and friend of the band
Paul Booth provides the stunning cover art, showing the grisly aftermath of the sucker-punch cover photo from the original album.
"I'm not sure I can even express what a tremendous honor it has been to work on this project for
PANTERA,"
Booth says. "The first music tour I ever went out on,
PANTERA headlined. That was back in '94 with
SEPULTURA and
BIOHAZARD. To this day, I still compare every tour I've been on to that one as it really was the most special for me. This project has been an awesome experience and I greatly thank everyone involved."
"Vulgar Display Of Power" marked another turning point in
PANTERA's sound, as Anselmo traded his moments of falsetto for a commanding hardcore vocal assault, backed by the trademark guitar crunch of
"Dimebag" Darrell Abbott and rounded out by
Brown and drummer
Vinnie Paul Abbott. The resulting sound was every bit as powerful as the album's visceral cover art. Their most commercially successful record to that point, the album laid the groundwork for the band's further domination of heavy radio and video airplay. Certified gold only a year later, this album has stood the test of time as one of the defining moments for the band and for the enduring legacy of heavy metal.
Z2 and
PANTERA present
"Vulgar Display Of Power" in both softcover and hardcover formats, as well as deluxe, super deluxe, and platinum editions packaged with an exclusive vinyl variant LP of the classic album, gallery-ready prints by
Zezelj,
Rodriguez and
Robert, signed editions from
Anselmo and
Brown, plus more available exclusively through
Z2's webstore. Also available in a limited and numbered edition will be a one-time release of a special "punch action" resin statue paying tribute to the album's iconic cover art.
The preeminent metal band of the early to mid-'90s,
PANTERA put to rest any and all remnants of the '80s metal scene, almost single-handedly demolishing any notion that hair metal, speed metal, power metal, et al., were anything but passé. Loathe to admit it, the Texas band had in fact been one of those '80s metal bands, releasing fairly unsuccessful (and later disowned) glam-inspired music throughout much of the decade. The about-face came with the addition of
Anselmo, and the key turning point was the band's major-label debut,
"Cowboys From Hell" (1990).
PANTERA's mainstream breakthrough came next with
"Vulgar Display Of Power" (1992), their second major-label album, which thrust the band to the forefront of the metal scene, alongside such veteran bands as
METALLICA,
MEGADETH,
SLAYER and
ANTHRAX, as well as fellow up-and-comers
SEPULTURA and
WHITE ZOMBIE. By the time
PANTERA unleashed
"Far Beyond Driven" (1994), after two long years of touring, they were the most popular metal band in the land: the new album debuted atop the Billboard Top 200 as its lead single,
"I'm Broken", was getting massive airplay.
At the height of their popularity and influence,
PANTERA began to self-destruct. Less than two months after the release of
"The Great Southern Trendkill" (1996) — an album ridden with allusions to drug abuse and personal destruction —
Anselmo overdosed on heroin after a homecoming concert in Texas, and as tensions rose between him and his fellow bandmembers, he began engaging with a growing list of side projects that kept him away from
PANTERA. A live album,
"Official Live: 101 Proof" (1997), was compiled for release when it became evident that no new studio album was forthcoming any time soon. One final studio album did result,
"Reinventing The Steel" (2000), but that was more or less it for the briefly reunited
PANTERA. The bandmembers once again went their separate ways, continuing with such bands as
DAMAGEPLAN,
DOWN and
SUPERJOINT RITUAL.
The end of
PANTERA then became official on December 8, 2004, when
Dimebag was murdered on-stage by a deranged fan. This much-publicized murder shone the spotlight back on
PANTERA for an extended moment, and amid all of the emotional outpouring and tributes, a consensus arose: in retrospect, there was no greater metal band during the early to mid-'90s than
PANTERA, who inspired a legion of rabid fans and whose oft-termed "groove metal" style bucked all prevailing trends of the day — from hair metal and grunge to nu-metal and rap-metal — and remains singular to this day, as defined by the vocals of
Anselmo as it is by the guitar of
Dimebag.