Cowboys From Hell by Pantera

Cowboys from Hell, Pantera's fifth album and first for a major label, came out on Atco in 1990, and it's the sound of an Arlington, Texas, band tossing its glam metal past on the bonfire; they have since called it their official debut. The Abbott brothers, Dimebag Darrell on guitar and Vinnie Paul on drums, cut it with bassist Rex Brown and singer Phil Anselmo between late 1989 and April 1990, with Terry Date producing, the first of many jobs he'd do for them.

The riffs owe a debt to thrash, Overkill's The Years of Decay above all, but they lurch and swing with a groove all their own, Dimebag's guitar squealing and Anselmo's roar going for the throat. The title track and the brooding "Cemetery Gates" are the landmarks. It sold slowly and didn't chart until 1992, but it went on to double platinum and is counted among the very first groove metal albums.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.