10 Best Acoustic Metal Songs

The real draw of Pantera always comes down to Dimebag Darrell. While people may love the distinctive growls of Phil Anselmo, the real muscle behind these tunes is when Dime would take his Dean guitar and go off the rails, with some of the scariest sounding lead tones ever put to tape. Even though the Dean felt like an extension of Dime's body, there is one outlier in Pantera's golden age that doesn't feature his signature six-string.

After annihilating the metal community with Far Beyond Driven, the Great Southern Trendkill offered a bit of a different sound on Suicide Note Pt. 1. Instead of the regular stomping rhythms we've gotten accustomed to from this era of the group, most of this song is dominated by 12-string acoustic guitars. While the tempo eventually picks up in the eventual Pt. 2 of this song, it was still weird to see this soft-spoken moment from a band that was used to tearing your head off.

At the same time, it makes sense that Dime would be well-versed in the acoustic, seeing how his dad was familiar with the country music scene, and even Dime himself guesting on Rebel Meets Rebel, which was released shortly after his death. Despite the metal-headed mentality of most of Pantera's material, Suicide Note Pt. 1 proves that the outlaw mentality isn't exclusive to heavy riffs.