Metal Magic is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Pantera, released on June 10, 1983, through Metal Magic Records.[1] Like the band's next three releases, it is musically oriented toward a glam/heavy metal sound influenced by Kiss and Van Halen. The album was released on the band's own label (also called Metal Magic) and produced by Jerry Abbott (under the alias "The Eld'n"), a country music songwriter and producer and the father of Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell (then known as Diamond Darrell), who were 19 and 16 years old, respectively, at the time of release.
Background
Pantera was formed in Arlington, Texas in 1981. The band was originally named Gemini, then Eternity, before finally settling on Pantera.[4]
In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Eduardo Rivadavia gave Metal Magic a largely negative ranking of 1.5 stars out of a possible 5. He described the album as "exceedingly average hard rock and metal misfires" with only two promising songs in "I'll Be Alright" and "Widowmaker". Furthermore, the album's "strongest asset" even in these early years was Diamond Darrell's guitar playing.[3]
Drummer Vinnie Paul said the album sold around 5,000 copies by 1990.[8]
^"Hell Bent For Texas". Metal Forces. No. 53. Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England: Rockzone Publications Ltd. August 1990. p. 20–22.
^Metal Magic (LP sleeve). Pantera. Arlington, Texas: Metal Magic Records. 1983. MMR1283.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
