Drowning Pool’s Bodies just might be the ultimate metal club anthem. Even 20 years on from release, the song maintains a near-ubiquitous presence in metal clubs, bars and gig playlists around the planet. An unabashed love letter to mosher culture, the song arose during the golden age of nu metal, proof positive that any new band could fly from obscurity to stardom with the right song. Only, Drowning Pool never really saw themselves as a nu metal band.“We actually always wanted to be Pantera,” admits bassist Stevie Benton. “But by the time our first album came out bands like Limp Bizkit and Korn were popular, so when Bodies became really popular the logic was that we also must be a nu metal band like Limp Bizkit.”It was Pantera that lured guitarist CJ Pierce and drummer Mike Luce away from their home scene in New Orleans in 1996, leaving behind “mostly blues and a few death metal bands” for the groove metal scene that had arisen in Dallas in Texan groove metal titans' wake. There, the pair connected with Stevie and Drowning Pool formed as an instrumental three-piece. They later found the missing ingredient in vocalist Dave Williams, the singer providing the requisite snarls to complement their tight grooves, but also crucially bringing with him a gregarious party animal vibe that cemented their reputation as a killer live band.“Dave was a real firecracker,” Stevie adds. “You just never knew what was going to happen. The life of every party to the point where if there wasn’t a party, he would create one just to become the life of it.”