"Cemetery Gates" is a

power ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romance (love), romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn m ...

by American heavy metal band Pantera. The song is the fifth track from the 1990 album ''

Cowboys from Hell ''Cowboys from Hell'' is the fifth studio album by American heavy metal band Pantera, released on July 24, 1990 by Atco Records. It marked the band's major label debut and their first collaboration with producer Terry Date. This was also the al ...

'', the band's fifth record and second with lead singer Phil Anselmo. The song, the longest in Pantera's discography, showcases Anselmo's vocal ability and range, concluding with screaming high notes answered by

Dimebag Darrell Darrell Lance Abbott (August 20, 1966 – December 8, 2004), best known by his stage name Dimebag Darrell, was an American musician. He was the guitarist of the heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan, both of which he co-founded alongside hi ...

on guitar in a trade-off.

Lyrics

The lyrics lament the death of a female lover and the prospect of dying or committing suicide and rejoining her in the afterlife. Phil Anselmo has credited numerous inspirations for the song. He stated in an interview in 1991 that the song was written about his good friends that had committed suicide. He also stated in a Ustream.tv live Q&A that "there was a friend who had died in

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and it had a real heavy impact within my group of friends. When I wrote the lyrics I did not want them to be too personal, because that can be cheesy. I also had to make sure that the lyrics would not take away from the song, because that was one of our best songs."

Release and reception

"Cemetery Gates" was the second single released by the band off their ''

'' album. It received a large amount of airplay by rock stations and has become one of Pantera's most popular songs. '' Guitar World'' magazine readers voted the song's

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the 35th-greatest of all time, which was Dimebag's second-highest ranking solo (after " Floods"). A live version of the song from '' Official Live: 101 Proof'' was nominated for Best Metal Performance at the

40th Grammy Awards The 40th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 25, 1998, at Radio City Music Hall, New York City. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Rock icon Bob Dylan, Alison Krauss & Union Station, and R. Kelly were ...

in 1998. ''

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...

'' considered "Cemetery Gates" to be the best Pantera song, writing that it is one of the greatest epic ballads in metal history, and that it is "etched into the hearts and minds of metalheads everywhere".

Alternative versions

A shorter version of "Cemetery Gates" without its acoustic beginning was released into a music video. A shortened, 5:47-second version without the conclusion was included on the soundtrack of the 1995 film '' Tales from the Crypt Presents Demon Knight''. Pantera's live album, '' Official Live: 101 Proof'', includes a six-and-a-half-minute rendition of the song.

Charts

References

External links

Music video on YouTube
{{authority control 1990 singles Pantera songs Heavy metal ballads 1990s ballads Songs inspired by deaths 1990 songs Atco Records singles Song recordings produced by Terry Date Songs written by Dimebag Darrell Songs written by Vinnie Paul Songs written by Phil Anselmo Songs written by Rex Brown