Nikki's Top 10: Southern Metal

Nikki Shears
Oct 19, 2017
5 min read

Because I know you all totally care what I think, I give you...

*Epic drumroll*

Nikki's Top 10!!!!

*Cheers and applause, men cry and women faint*

So this week for my first ever Nikki's Top 10, I will give you my list of Top Southern Metal because that's what I've been listening to most of the time lately. I know you can hardly contain yourselves.

10. Texas Hippie Coalition, Ride On

Texas Hippie Coalition is an unlikely force to be reckoned with. One look at frontman "Big Daddy" Ritch Anderson and you know it's gonna be a good time. THC had 3 notable records before this one, but this is when they really came together: this would be the first album with new drummer, Timmy Braun and guitarist Cord Pool (the kid is seriously a young Dimebag). With the release of this album in 2014, the band was able to preform at Rocklahoma, Rock on the Range, and Mayhem Festival.

Notable Tracks: "Rock Ain't Dead", "Bottom of a Bottle", "Ride On"

9. Crowbar, Crowbar

Crowbar's debut album, Obedience Through Suffering, failed to gain the band much notoriety. It was the band's second, self-titled album in 1993, produced by none other than Phil Anselmo, that put them on the Southern Metal map. They were featured on MTV's Headbanger's Ball, videos for "All I Had (I Gave)" and "Existence Is Punishment" were seen on Beavis and Butthead, and they began going on national tours with Pantera. A cover of Led Zeppelin's "No Quarter" appears on this album, showing a harder, darker take on one of Zeppelin's psychedelic classics.

Noted Tracks: "All I Had (I Gave)", "No Quarter", "I Have Failed"

8. HELLYEAH, Blood for Blood

HELLYEAH is one of the most notable and recognized supergroups in Metal. Formed in 2007 and comprised of members of Mudvayne, Nothingface and Pantera, HELLYEAH was a fan favorite from the start. The year 2014 brought Blood for Blood, the 4th album from the band and the subsequent tours introduced new band members Christian Brady on guitar and Kyle Sanders on bass. The video for "Hush" was used for the "No More" Campaign against domestic violence.

Notable Tracks: "Sangre por Sangre (Blood for Blood)", "Moth", "Hush"

7. Black Label Society, Mafia

Though they do not hail from the south, Black Label Society definitely fits the bill as far as the Southern Metal sound goes. Formed by former Ozzy Osbourne guitarst Zakk Wylde, BLS originally started as a solo project for Wylde. Though Mafia is the 5th studio album by the band, it is easily the most recognized: "In This River", dedicated to the late "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, became a major success, even if it was a far departure from their typical style. Also found as a bonus track is a cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "I Never Dreamed".

Notable Tracks: "Fire It Up", "Suicide Messiah", "In This River"

6. Down, Down II: A Bustle In Your Hedgegrow

Talk about a Southern Metal supergroup! Down, in its original incarnation, featured Pantera's Phil Anselmo on vocals and Rex Brown on bass, Corrosion of Conformity's Pepper Keenan and Crowbar's Kirk Windstein on guitars and Eyehategod's Jimmy Bower on drums. Released March 26, 2002--7 years after their debut, Nola--the album was recorded over a 28 day period at Anselmo's "Nosferatu's Lair", a time when none of the band members left the house in the New Orleans area. Though some critics didn't think the album lived up to the debut, the more bluesy take is refreshing and blends well with Down's sound.

Notable tracks: "Learned From This Mistake", "Beautifully Depressed", "New Orleans is a Dying Whore"

5. Superjoint Ritual, A Lethal Dose of American Hatred

As the 2nd album from the group, the ferocity from the previous album, Use Once and Destroy, was still prevalent. Touring bassist Hank Williams III appeared for the first time on a Superjoint Ritual album (Anselmo and Bower had played bass in the studio for the first), with Anselmo and Bower on vocals/guitar and Joe Fazzio on drums. This would be the last album under the Superjoint Ritual name, before the band split in 2004 and was rebranded as Superjoint in 2014 with a slightly altered lineup.

Notable tracks: "Dress Like A Target", "Destruction Of A Person", "Absorbed"

4. Corrosion of Conformity, Deliverance

Deliverance is by far COC's defining album. Though it was the 4th album by the band, it was the first with Pepper Keenan on vocals and the album in which they shed their thrash/hardcore sound and went for the "Black-Sabbath inspired heavy metal" style that they are now so well known for. "Albatross" and "Clean My Wounds' were heard regularly on the radio and Rolling Stone ranked the album #31 on their "Best Rock Albums of 1994" in 2014.

Notable tracks: "Albatross", "Clean My Wounds", "Seven Days"

3. Damageplan, New Found Power

Looking for a new project as Pantera was disbanding, brothers Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell formed the band Damageplan with Patrick Lachlan on vocals and eventually Bob "Zilla" Kakaha on bass (Dimebag played for the studio recording). Very much carrying on the metal legacy that the Abbott brothers were accustomed to, New Found Power would sadly turn out to be the first and only album by the band: Dimebag was infamously shot and killed on December 8th, 2004 as Damageplan was performing at the Alrosa Villa. I personally feel that we would have seen the band evolve in their work and release more material had the tragedy not happened.

Notable tracks: "Pride", "Fuck You", "Save Me"

2.) Down, Nola

Ok, I know I already have a Down album on the list, but I would be doing Southern Metal a disservice if I didn't mention both of their first two albums. Nola, released in 1995, was mostly written by Anselmo and Keenan between 1990-1995. The lyrical content mostly comprised of death, suicide, drug use and personal struggles, all well known topics of the band. The album mixes various musical styles, though it is commonly labelled as a sludge metal recording. After a tour for the album, the band went on hiatus in 1996 so the members could focus on their respective main bands.

Notable tracks: "Eyes of the South", "Stone the Crow", "Bury Me in Smoke"

1. Pantera, Far Beyond Driven

It seems fairly obvious to put a Pantera album as the top choice, but that's exactly why it needs to be there. Look back on the rest of the list: how many of those bands would we really know about or even have if it weren't for them? They were the Zeppelin of their time and genre: A quartet that brought their music to the forefront and made people listen to what they had to say and offer to the music world. Any Pantera album would fit here, but the reason I choose Far Beyond Driven is this: this is the last album before the band started to fall apart and they were in their peak form. They increasingly became more furious with each album, and by the time Far Beyond Driven came around, Pantera was kicking ass and taking names left and right, then pissing on the ashes of those who stood in their way. Metal music in general may not have survived the '90's had Pantera not grabbed the genre by the balls and said "We ain't going any-damn-where!". Far Beyond Driven was Pantera's fastest-selling album, certified platinum by the RIAA, and the first album crediting Darrell Abbott as "Dimebag Darrell" ,changing from "Diamond Darrell" after Vulgar Display of Power. A striking difference from the rest of the album's fist-pumping, whiskey-chugging tracks, a cover of Black Sabbath's "Planet Caravan" closes out the album, taking the listener into space in a way never before done. Pantera's legacy had already been laid down; now it was set in stone.