Pantera's 1996 album, The Great Southern Trendkill, is regarded as their most extreme and abrasive album. Characteristically defiant and contrarian, they followed up its #1 Billboard-charting Far Beyond Driven with an LP that was far beyond confrontational — musically experimental, sonically bombastic and lyrically scathing. For the 20th anniversary of the landmark record (released on May 7th), Revolver talked to singer Philip Anselmo about the dark days that inspired such dark music.

Anselmo: "I was in a superbly dark fucking spot when we did that record, and what I remember about doing it was pretty ugly, but I was surrounded by beautiful things. I was at Trent Reznor's studio; that place was fucking beautiful and awesome. It was the first record I did away from the band. I was injured, man; I was addicted to drugs, and sometimes when you're in those dark places, they make for some goddamn good music or interesting expressions of music and art in general. I felt pretty confident that the songs were devastating enough."

The Great Southern Trendkill is Pantera's eighth studio album, released on May 7, 1996. It reached #4 on the Billboard 200 chart, and stayed on the chart for 16 weeks. Phil Anselmo recorded the vocals alone at Trent Reznor's Nothing Studios in New Orleans while Dimebag Darrell (guitars), Rex Brown (bass), and Vinnie Paul (drums) recorded the music at Chasin Jason Studios in Dalworthington Gardens in Texas.

Tracklist:

"The Great Southern Trendkill"
"War Nerve"
"Drag The Waters" 
"10's"
"13 Steps To Nowhere"
"Suicide Note Pt. I"
"Suicide Note Pt. II"
"Living Through Me (Hells' Wrath)"
"Floods"
"The Underground In America"
"Sandblasted Skin" (Reprise)