PANTERA – JÄÄHALLI, HELSINKI – 21/01/2025

por Emil Gil Bretón · 05/02/2025

Cowboys From Hell

Legendary American groove metal band PANTERA triumphantly kicked off their 2025 European tour in Finland. The quartet provided a pyrotechnic and powerful set that helped us counteract the cold snowfall that took place in the city of Helsinki that night. An evening full of nostalgia and in which the American bands POWER TRIP and CHILD BITE also played (the first as a special guest and the second as a support group). Unfortunately we were not able to witness any of these presentations. However, there is nothing better than starting this year’s 2025 concert season with one of the most anticipated tours in the world of metal and extreme music. In the following lines we give you a summary of everything that happened in the Jäähalli concert arena:

PANTERA

A large black curtain with the band’s name in red covered the stage while the song “Regular People (Conceit)” from the album “Vulgar Display of Power” (1992) played first. While this song was playing at full volume, the screens located on both sides of the stage showed images from back in the nineties of the entire band in different facets (on tour, backstage, sharing with friends and family, on stage, in the recording studio and partying with other musicians). Before starting the band’s set, the song “In Heaven (Lady in the Radiator Song)” from the cult film Eraserhead by the recently deceased film director David Lynch also played.

A few minutes later the big curtain suddenly fell to the ground and the band attacked with force playing a couple of songs from the album “Vulgar Display of Power” (1992). “New Level” and “Mouth for War” sounded thunderously heavy and powerful thanks to a display of aggressive lights and flashes of intermittent fire that mercilessly heated the stage and its surroundings.

The band did not lower the intensity for a minute and continued to punish the ears of those present with a handful of songs from the great album “Far Beyond Driven” (1994). “Strength Beyond Strength”, “Becoming” and “I’m Broken” were applauded by a euphoric audience who shook their heads non-stop while raising their fists in the air as a symbol of acceptance.

In its live version, PANTERA was composed of the founding members, Phil Anselmo on lead vocals and Rex Brown on bass and backing vocals. Completing the tour lineup was the extraordinary Zakk Wylde (BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, OZZY OSBOURNE) on guitar and backing vocals, and the fantastic Charlie Benante (ANTHRAX, STORMTROOPERS OF DEATH) on drums.

Anselmo, who wore a T-shirt from the opening act CHILD BITE, seemed very grateful since he could not believe with his own eyes see the great support of the Finnish fans of attending a concert on a Tuesday night. At the same time, he dedicated a few words to those fans who have followed the band from the beginning and who now attend the concerts in the company of their adult children.

A skilled Benante showed all his skill and power behind the drums. Drawings of the faces of the deceased Abbott brothers, Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell, were shown on both front drums as a tribute. Obviously we miss Vinnie Paul‘s charisma and groove, but Benante is a great drummer who pays tribute to the aforementioned on every hit.

Brown, on the other hand, has not aged one bit and his powerful notes on the bass sound increasingly thunderous and with an unattainable depth. Notably, he could be described as PANTERA‘s secret weapon.

Wylde also paid tribute to the Abbott brothers by having both faces embroidered on his leather biker-style vest. Musically, Wylde is a monstrous guitarist who can execute anything he sets his mind to perfectly. This time it was no exception, although we must highlight that when performing some solos and riffs he interpreted them in his own way.

Returning to the music, the band said goodbye with two songs from the album that introduced groove metal to the masses, “Cowboys from Hell” (1990). “Domination” (in combination with the song “Hollow”) and “Cowboys from Hell” were sung at the top of their lungs by a euphoric audience that did not want the evening to end. The quartet made an effort and returned to the stage a few minutes later to say goodbye definitively with the anthem “Fucking Hostile”. Almost an hour and a half of concert that went by in the blink of an eye thanks to songs that made us remember our youth with a PANTERA that, despite the passing of the years, reminds us that in the 90s they were the masters of metal and one of the main reasons that explain the popularity of the extreme music genre worldwide.