Controversial opinions on metal

Goats are super cute. I have a great aunt and uncle with a small goat farm, and those things are a lot of fun, but apparently also quite mischievous.
 
The only correct answer

That is probably my second favorite. From purely a creative standpoint, The Great Southern Trendkill is the best. If you like underwhelming albums with a few good songs, then Far Beyond Driven is the best. Vulgar Display of Power is the heaviest. Cowboys from Hell has the most mystique.

Another controversial opinion:

"Erblicket" and "Rundgang" made Filosofem. Pardon my laziness in failing to spell out the entire songs.
 
I'd say Cowboys is more 50/50 thrash/non-thrash, but anyone that says Pantera has never played thrash metal is a try-hard.
 
Far Beyond Driven is the best Pantera album by far. And both TGST and Vulgar are better albums than Cowboys From Hell ... which is thrash outside of 2-3 tracks.

Far Beyond Driven was killed by Becoming. I love the album, but that song annoys the hell out of me. Most people denigrate Good Friends and a Bottle of Pills but I actually like that one.

Cowboys of Hell is pretty much pure groove metal IMO. Cemetery Gates is kind of a glam metal ballad holdover, and Shattered is more speed metal, but other than that, I'd say it's pretty much a pure groove metal album.

Yes, Trendkill is certainly better than Cowboys from Hell, but I can't say I am much of a fan of Vulgar Dispaly of Power. It has some fucking awesome numbers, and it is arguably the definitive Pantera's album. It has some filler in it, however, notably Rise. The reason I like The Great Southern Trendkill so much more is because it is devoid of filler. So far, no one has brought up Reinventing the Steel. That is a great one as well.