EDMONTON -- Pantera - it's a guy thing.

It may have been as much as a 95% male audience at last night's metal concert in the AgriCom.

As a place to get in touch with one's masculine side, a Pantera concert is better than any howl-at-the-moon-male-bonding ritual.

It was a kick-ass heavy metal show of the highest calibre, tapping into ancient male aggression made obsolete with the invention of agriculture, when man didn't have to hunt the mammoth anymore.

Well ... it is possible to over-analyse these things.

Let's just say this: Pantera makes Metallica look like the Backstreet Boys.

The band's Edmonton debut created a dangerous mood that was one part primal scream therapy, one part WWF (including the wrestling if you were anywhere near the mosh pit) and one part incitement to riot.

In other words, a complete success.

What's a bloody nose when you're having fun?

After an opening set from Skrape - a top-drawer metal band from the land of boy-groups, Orlando, Florida - the chant started: "Pantera! Pantera! Pan! Ter! A!" like a mantra.

It was as if 4,500 black-shirted headbangers were summoning the old Gods, the vengeful Gods, the cruel Gods, the Gods of metal.

And lo, they came.

After the curtain dropped to reveal a stage that looked like Thor's rec room, the chant would continue throughout the deafening din of the show, spurred on by rabble-rouser singer Philip Anselmo.

He had the crowd in the palm of his hand. If he said "kill!" you imagine they would.

Scary, that kind of power.

Resplendent in his Charles Manson T-shirt - later referenced in the song Revolution Is My Name - this veteran showman isn't that much different than Neil Diamond, say.

He was gracious, offering a "thank you very f---ing much" after every number, complimenting the fans on being "true heavy metal motherf---ers," conscious that "without the f--ing fans, we f---ing wouldn't f---ing be here!" and so on.

You get the picture.

The difference was in the power and the glory of a great heavy metal band.

Enhanced by blinding lights, explosions and up to six columns of fire, the sound was pure catharsis. The crowd responded with flailing heads and pumping fists. Vinnie Paul's double kick reverberated a machine gun tattoo in the hall, as the guitar of Dimebag Darrell shrieked over top and bassist Rex Brown rumbled the bones of all who drew near. Anselmo snarled like an enraged lion - what he sang being far less important than how he sang it.

The message was loud and clear.

The song Strength Beyond Strength says it all. Later on, Pantera played songs from their latest album, Reinventing the Steel and then ... oh, to hell with it!

Here's my real review: Ur! Metal good! Me like ...

It's hard to experience such a thing without turning into a total caveman.

Relish it, gentlemen: there are few places left in the world to do it. (More on Pantera)