Song: Planet Caravan (Black Sabbath Cover) (Listen)
Album: Far Beyond Driven (1994) (Buy)
You know Pantera, right? Kings of the thundering, blistering, rage-fuelled metal anthem, and masters of the groove metal subgenre they arguably created? Well, as those who have heard this song know, Planet Caravan, a Black Sabbath cover, is as far from the style that made them famous as you could possibly get without them ditching Dimebag’s guitars entirely and becoming a synth-pop boy band.
For a start, it is probably the mellowest song I listen to. Don’t let the fact that I listen mostly to speed metal undermine that statement; it is immensely peaceful. Phil Anselmo’s normally furious roar is far calmer and melodic, similar to how it is in Cemetery Gates but deeper, and Vinnie Paul swaps the drum kit for a hypnotic set of bongos. For anyone that knows anything about Pantera, you should already realise just how unusual a song this is for them.
I discovered Planet Caravan a few months ago when I decided to expand my Pantera collection beyond Cowboys From Hell and listen to some of the heavier stuff. Looking through their undeniably brilliant material, I saw this song and, remembering it to be a cover of some sort, began playing it out of curiosity. Needless to say, it blew my mind. Dimebag’s (or should I say Tony Iommi’s?) main rhythm was immediately relaxing, and once the bongos came I knew I was hooked. Stick Anselmo’s strangely soothing voice and Rex Brown’s subtle bass-work into the mix and you’re in for a truly psychedelic experience. I have since played the song for a number of my friends, very few of whom listen to metal, and normally about the point the bongos makes their entrance I get some sort of positive reaction out of them, including that of one female friend who let out a pleasantly surprised ‘Oooh!’
The dreamy atmosphere created throughout the song works to conjure up a variety of images in my head, like all good songs do. Whatever the song is actually about, it makes me imagine some sort of planet travelling through this dream-like universe, invoking images such as the caravans in Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles and the gypsies in the His Dark Materials trilogy, all mixed together in a deep-space setting complete with the vast pallet of colours of its various planets and nebulas. For those of you wondering, this is purely fuelled by my imagination; no substances were involved. This is all capped by a masterful solo from Dimebag, which provides a suitably mellow outro to the song and the imaginary galaxy it creates.
This song was originally created for a Black Sabbath covers compilation, but was ultimately rejected… perhaps because it was far too good to belong on a covers compilation. Instead it can be found at the end of the Far Beyond Driven, probably their heaviest album, providing an almost unexpected yet brilliant ending to a brilliant album.
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