I wasn't expecting Mozart or anything, but this was a record I thought would be crazier than it turned out to be. Bushwick delivers the majority of these tracks in a monotone style, which I guess could be construed as zombie-like, but it just puts me to sleep. Was that part of his evil plan all along? Then, once I'm asleep, he will steal my soul? Well, if that happens, at least I can say I heard his solo record a few times.

One overwrought boring chapter down...erm...not bothering with anymore. Unless I get really bored.

Ah, this was horrible - a one-song, maybe two-song album. Pantera mailed it in for the money then went their separate ways. "Goddamn Electric" was especially atrocious - to first hear a line like “your trust is in whiskey and weed and Slayer” was one of the corniest experiences to go through. Dimebag is a shell of himself, even on the comeback single "Revolution Is My Name", which sounds like he took 5-10 snippets of past material and stitched the song together out of them. There are lots of dumb self-reverential lyrics and themes, too. There is a sound effect on "Death Rattle" which intentionally sounds like a bong hit. The drunk guy on the cover is a mess of blurred fingers, spilled booze, and bodily fluids, which is a great indicator of the mess that is this record. I give'em 2 points because at least the style of music is in my wheelhouse, but can't be held responsible for anyone else's take.

This uneven, cathartic album sold far less than the previous two (naturally) because the band gets either too extreme (aiding Anselmo on vocals was Seth Putnam from jokey gross grind core band Anal Cunt) or too overwrought (well, the album title) as from a technical perspective, Anselmo's vocals were often double-tracked to match the increased aggression of the music. This is the heaviest Pantera ever got on record, with the rhythm section and Phil's histrionics overshadowing Dimebag a bit (the title track, "War Nerve"). But Dimebag's star turn is one to remember ("Floods") which sounds too classy for this otherwise sweat-in-the-trenches affair.

For the most part, unlike the front-loaded Vulgar Display of Power, this piece of plastic more than delivers on its’ promise of brain-thumping, brutal-riffing, yet enveloping AND interesting heavy metal all the way through. The recognizable, “radio-friendly” tracks (the term is relative, of course) still lie at the beginning of the disc, where you find catchier affairs like “Strength Beyond Strength”, “Becoming”, and “5 Minutes Alone". Unlike the previous disc, you start to notice there’s more groove to these tunes, and less regimentation. The video for "I'm Broken" got a ton of airplay which made the song the de facto single. It has a BIG riff and the band going full bore on what would turn out to be their anthem. Then the surprise at the end is “Throes of Rejection” segueing into a nice, mellow cover of Black Sabbath’s “Planet Caravan”.