Pantera was an American heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas, that formed in 1981. Although initially influenced by 1970s and 1980s glam metal/hard rock bands, thrash metal acts such as Slayer, Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax would prove to be influential in the band's significant change in musical direction at the end of the 1980s. From there, Pantera became a key formulator of the groove metal (post-thrash) subgenre of heavy metal music.
