GOOD grief, didn't we never leave the Eighties? Let's do the checklist. Throaty lead singer? Yup. Mushroom cloud on packaging. Uh-huh. Songs that Metallica would have bellowed before they suddenly became good? That's three for three, roll back the calendar, guys.

In truth, this bunch never left the Eighties - welcome to Pantera reincarnated, a band who always made me think of that scene in Good Morning, Vietnam when the guy in artillery asks for a song to be played - "Anything, just play it loud!" With no light and shade in their music, no thought as to progression, this becomes the musical equivalent of hammering an anvil - you can't get the variation, so just do it faster. Damageplan ought to be ashamed to look so antique.

Updated: 09:01 Thursday, April 08, 2004