With Cowboys From Hell (1990) Pantera ignited the explosive that was to change the metal scene in the nineties from the ground up: Ultra hard songs with an equally ultra dry sound that was shot into the metal crowd at high speed. For the following ten years, the big winners of the genre were thus defined: Four platinum albums and a number 1 position in the Billboard album charts for Far Beyond Driven made Pantera the metal phenomenon of the decade

Already in 1981 Pantera got together in Fort Worth, Texas, under the name Pantera's Metal Magic, but it was only when Philip Anselmo joined Dimebag Darrell, Vinnie Paul and Rex Brown in 1987 that the elemental force of the typical Pantera sound broke through in full force. The new line-up debuted in 1990 with the album Cowboys From Hell, which today is one of the great milestones of metal. Released in 1992, Vulgar Display Of Power went double platinum and stayed in the US charts for a full 79 weeks - longer than any other Pantera album - reaching number 69 in Germany, but their biggest success was to be the 1994 album Far Beyond Driven. Until today it might be the most extreme album that ever made it to #1 in the US Billboard Album Charts (D: #7)

In 2003 the dissolution of Pantera was officially announced. Anselmo founded the hardcore combo Superjoint Ritual, and Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell started Damageplan. But all hopes of the fans for a reunion at some point were dashed when Dimebag Darrell was shot dead by a maniac during a Damage Plan concert on December 8, 2004. The whole rock world mourned for the great man on the guitar