ANYONE WANNA LISTEN TO PANTERA WITHOUT LISTENING TO PANTERA?

Pros and cons of streaming the new Throwdown album, Deathless:

PROS

• As is so often the case with Throwdown, they sound an awful lot like Pantera. And that band’s argument that Pantera were AWESOME, so why wouldn’t you want to sound like Pantera?, is a valid one, as long as you don’t place too high a premium on originality. So, like their last album, Tears & Venom, Deathless is a forgettable, but by no means horrible, confection for those of us who are still mourning the loss of Dimebag.
• The dudes in Throwdown, at least in my very limited experience with them, seem like nice dudes, and there’s something to be said for supporting nice dudes in an industry full of d-bags.

CONS

• For at least the second record in a row now, the band is working with producer Mudrock, who also worked on a lot of Godsmack albums. And now vocalist Dave Peters is starting to sound an awful lot like Sully Erna – who I fucking hate. My Pantera never needed a dose of Godsmack, fuck you very much.
• It’s the least heavy Throwdown album ever. I know that it’s really a cliché to bitch about a band becoming less heavy, but it’s not like Throwdown were ever gonna be Muse – either write an honest to goodness awesomely catchy radio hit, or go back to creating music that makes me wanna punch an adorable monkey in the face.
• It sounds exactly like Pantera – and we have to place at least some value on originality, don’t we?

Deathless comes out November 10 on E1.

-AR