Pantera’s sixth album, which they liked to pretend was their second, built on the mechanistic thrash sound they’d pioneered on 1990’s Cowboys From Hell. They were part of an overall evolution in metal: Coroner, Helmet, Prong, and the Rollins Band were all doing similar things at the same time, but Pantera were much more popular than all those bands combined. And that’s in large part due to this album’s explosive first half — everything from “Mouth For War” through “This Love” (their almost Swans-heavy take on the “power ballad”) just destroys. The rest of the album is more experimental, adding psychedelic swamp guitar to their chugging riffs but never forgetting that punching the listener in the face is Job One.