Editing Pantera (section)

===1999–2003: Side projects, ''Reinventing the Steel'', and breakup===
Around this time, Anselmo ventured into more side projects, such as playing guitars on [[Necrophagia]]'s 1999 release ''[[Holocausto de la Morte]]'', where he went as the alias "Anton Crowley", which combines the names of [[Church of Satan]] founder [[Anton LaVey]] and occultist [[Aleister Crowley]]. He also temporarily joined the [[black metal]] supergroup Eibon and contributed vocals to that band's only two songs. Another one of Anselmo's "Anton Crowley" projects was black metal band [[Viking Crown]]. The Abbott brothers and Rex Brown began their own [[country rock|country metal]] crossover project, [[Rebel Meets Rebel]] with [[David Allan Coe]], around the same time.

The band wrote a song for the [[National Hockey League|NHL]]'s [[Dallas Stars]] during the team's [[1998–99 NHL season|1999]] [[1999 Stanley Cup Finals|Stanley Cup Championship run]], "Puck Off", which in recent years has been used as the Stars' goal song at [[American Airlines Center]]. Throughout the season, members of the team befriended members of Pantera. During a Stanley Cup party hosted by Vinnie Paul, the [[Stanley Cup]] was damaged when [[Guy Carbonneau]] attempted to throw the cup from the balcony of Vinnie Paul's house into his pool. The Cup landed short on the concrete deck and had to be repaired by NHL commissioned silversmiths.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hookedonhockeymagazine.com/dallas-stars-and-the-mystery-dent-in-the-stanley-cup/|title=The Dallas Stars and the Mystery Dent in the Stanley Cup|date=December 25, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2K-AS-2iAk|title=Vinnie Paul - Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction?|date=November 30, 2016 |via=www.youtube.com}}</ref> Later on in 1999, Pantera contributed the [[Ted Nugent]] cover "[[Cat Scratch Fever]]" to the soundtrack of the film ''[[Detroit Rock City (film)|Detroit Rock City]]''. It became the band's second appearance on the Mainstream Rock Chart, peaking at the No.&nbsp;40 position.

Pantera returned to the recording studio with Anselmo in 1999, releasing their ninth (considered fifth by the band itself) and final studio album, ''[[Reinventing the Steel]]'', on March 21, 2000. The album debuted at No.&nbsp;4 on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]]<ref name="200chart"/> and included two singles; "[[Revolution Is My Name]]" and "[[Goddamn Electric]]", the latter of which featured a [[Kerry King]] outro solo recorded backstage in one take during [[Ozzfest]] in Dallas. "Revolution Is My Name" became the band's fourth nomination for [[Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance|Best Metal Performance]] in the [[Grammy Awards of 2001|2001 Grammys]], and it peaked at No.&nbsp;28 on the Mainstream Rock Chart in the U.S.. In 2000, Pantera played on the mainstage of [[Ozzfest]] alongside [[Ozzy Osbourne]], [[Godsmack]], [[Static-X]], [[Methods of Mayhem]], [[Incubus (band)|Incubus]], [[P.O.D.]], [[Black Label Society]], [[Queens of the Stone Age]], and [[Apartment 26]]. In November, the band canceled their planned tour after Anselmo broke his ribs after falling during his eighth annual [[House of Shock]] event.<ref>{{cite magazine | url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/pantera/articles/story/5923151/pantera_cancel_tour | title=Pantera Cancel Tour |magazine=Rolling Stone | date=November 1, 2000 | access-date = April 6, 2008}}{{dead link|date=August 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

In 2001, the band once again returned to touring, playing with fellow metal bands [[Morbid Angel]], [[Skrape]], Slayer, and Static-X as part of the Extreme Steel Tour of North America.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1444695/pantera-slayer-deliver-lesson-in-brutality-at-extreme-steel-kickoff/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180131201044/http://www.mtv.com/news/1444695/pantera-slayer-deliver-lesson-in-brutality-at-extreme-steel-kickoff/|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 31, 2018|title=Pantera, Slayer Deliver Lesson In Brutality At Extreme Steel Kickoff|website=Mtv.com|access-date=June 23, 2018}}</ref> They were also guest musicians on the show ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'' in the episode "[[Pre-Hibernation Week]]", performing the song "Death Rattle" from ''Reinventing the Steel'' (renamed as "Pre-Hibernation" on the 2001 soundtrack ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants: Original Theme Highlights]]''). Following the Extreme Steel tour, a planned tour of Europe was cut short as a result of the [[September 11 attacks]], which left the band stranded in [[Dublin]], Ireland for six days as a result of all flights being canceled. Pantera played their last show in Yokohama, Japan at the "Beast Feast" festival on August 28, 2001. This would be the last time the members of Pantera performed together. Back home, the band planned to release its fourth home video in the summer of 2002 and record another studio album later that year, but neither came about.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1451613/20011226/pantera.jhtml?headlines=true | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020210000533/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1451613/20011226/pantera.jhtml?headlines=true | url-status=dead | archive-date=February 10, 2002 | title=Pantera Members Rip It Up With Rebellious Side Projects|publisher=MTV | date=December 21, 2001 | first=Jon | last=Wiederhorn | access-date = November 4, 2006}}</ref>

Anselmo again engaged in numerous side projects. In March 2002, [[Down (band)|Down]] released its second studio album, ''[[Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow]]'', which featured Rex Brown on bass following [[Todd Strange]]'s departure in 1999. Brown remained Down's full-time bassist until 2011, having appeared on their [[Down III: Over the Under|subsequent release in 2007]]. Also, in May of that year, Anselmo's [[Superjoint Ritual]] released its debut album, ''[[Use Once and Destroy]]''. Vinnie Paul claimed that Anselmo told him that he would take a year off following the events of September 11, 2001, but Anselmo's touring and recording output for both [[Superjoint Ritual]] and [[Down (band)|Down]] contradicted this.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}} Nonetheless, Anselmo recalled that a "great distancing" occurred among the band in this period.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Blabbermouth |date=2004-12-01 |title=PHILIP ANSELMO: 'DIMEBAG DARRELL Deserves To Be Beaten Severely' |url=https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/philip-anselmo-dimebag-darrell-deserves-to-be-beaten-severely/ |access-date=2022-11-27 |website=BLABBERMOUTH.NET |language=en}}</ref> The Abbott brothers were frustrated, and held out for an indefinite period of time, assuming that Anselmo would return. However, according to Anselmo, taking a break from Pantera was a "mutual thing" between each of the band members.<ref name="interview">{{cite web | url = http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=12289 | title = Phil Anselmo speaks on the future of Pantera | date=May 27, 2003 | work = [[Blabbermouth.net]] | access-date = October 17, 2005}}</ref>

The Abbott brothers officially disbanded Pantera in November 2003,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/dimebag-darrell-pantera-is-officially-over/|title = DIMEBAG DARRELL: 'PANTERA is Officially Over'|date = November 24, 2003}}</ref> also the year when their [[The Best of Pantera: Far Beyond the Great Southern Cowboys' Vulgar Hits!|best-of compilation album]] was released, when the two concluded that Anselmo had abandoned them and would not return. The dissolution of the band was not amicable and subsequently a war of words was waged between the former bandmates via the press. In an [[MTV]] [[Headbangers Ball|Headbanger's Ball]] interview in January 2004, Vinnie Paul explained that they had not spoken to Anselmo in two years, and was cynical in response to Anselmo wishing the Abbott brothers success, citing Anselmo's "sedated state."<ref>{{Citation |title=Damageplan Discuss The Breakup of Pantera - Interview On Headbangers Ball (01-24-04) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgut7HMeerw |language=en |access-date=2022-11-27}}</ref> Meanwhile, Dimebag implied in interviews that Anselmo had returned to heroin use, something which Anselmo said was unsubstantiated as he was over 3 years sober.<ref name=":0" /> Anselmo's comment in a 2004 issue of ''[[Metal Hammer]]'' magazine, saying that Dimebag would "attack him" verbally and "deserves to be beaten severely", typified Pantera's internal conflicts; Anselmo insisted that this comment was [[tongue-in-cheek]], and he was upset that the quote ended up on the cover of the magazine.<ref name="btm" /> This explanation was soon dismissed by Vinnie Paul, who said shortly after the 2004 murder of his brother that he had personally listened to the audio files of the interview and that Anselmo had not been misquoted or misrepresented, but said the exact words which appeared in the article.<ref name="btm" /> <blockquote>"I think, more or less, it lies between Dimebag and I. There was never a point when he could not get drunk. Which was pretty much every day. And now I'm hearing it's worse than ever [...] The anger and the hatred and the drunken nights of just screaming in my face, with me sitting there taking it and holding both of my hands just to not hit the guy… I grew weary of that. I was sick of being his whipping post, y'know, and I just politely, or unpolitely, excused myself." - Anselmo, December 2004<ref name=":0" /></blockquote>Caught up in the torrent was Rex Brown, who later said "It was a bunch of he said, she said nonsense that was going on, and I wasn't going to get in the middle of it."<ref name="btm" /> In a 2015 interview, he'd add, "Vinnie drew this imaginary line in the sand [...] He said, ‘You’re either on our side or not.’ I didn't want to take sides. [...] The whole thing was ridiculous, but I never talked about it.".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.guitarworld.com/magazine/rex-brown-recalls-making-panteras-cowboys-hell-vulgar|title=Rex Brown Recalls the Making of Pantera's 'Cowboys from Hell,' 'Vulgar Display of Power' and More|first1=Jon|last1=Wiederhorn|date=July 24, 2015|website=guitarworld}}</ref>

In July 2004, ''Vulgar Display of Power'' went double-platinum, and ''The Great Southern Trendkill'' went platinum the next month.<ref name="ussales" />