VINNIE PAUL – Says ‘Hell No’ To PANTERA Reunion

It’s the gift that keeps on giving or maybe it’s the nightmare that just will not go away, metal music lovers. What does that mean exactly? Well how about we get us a pull off Ex-PANTERA drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott’s new yearly statement on why he does not want to do a PANTERA reunion with Zakk Wylde (BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, Ex-OZZY OSBOURNE) filling in for his late brother, Ex-PANTERA lead guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott. People still have hopes he will possibly warm up to the idea of simply celebrating Dime’s legacy a decade later with his old mates Rex and Phil by jamming old Pantera classics at a one-off concert. Sounds fair enough, right?

Not so fast. Vinnie let it be known recently that his wrath for what happened to his younger brother is still as much of a sore subject today as it was when the tragedy happened. Speaking to Revolver magazine’s Jon Wiederhorn for a forthcoming story on VP’s current band, HELLYEAH, the legendary drummer commented:

“If you had an ex-wife, and it was a pretty bitter split, you might not ever want to talk to her again. Who cares if everybody in the family and your friends want you to say hello again? It’s your choice whether you want to do it or not. And I think a lot of people are selfish. They say, ‘Oh, he oughtta just kiss and make up with Phil [Anselmo, ex-PANTERA singer] and everything will be cool. And then they can go get Zakk Wylde and everything’s gonna be great.’ No, everything’s not gonna be great.”

During an interview with Matt Pinfield of Fanpass at this month’s Rock On The Range festival in Columbus, Ohio, Anselmo stated about the possibility of a PANTERA reunion: “I think the situation would have to be correct.” After Pinfield interjected that Zakk would be the perfect guy to step in for Dimebag, Anselmo continued: “Yeah, yeah, yeah. No doubt,” Philip agreed. Anselmo continued: “We [DOWN] are on tour with fucking BLACK LABEL SOCIETY right now, and don’t ever underestimate the power of conversation between Zakk and I. And I know [former PANTERA bassist] Rex [Brown] is a smart man. But at the end of the day, there would have to be a meeting at a table — or without a table — between Rex, Vince [former PANTERA drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott] and I, and there would have to be a bigtime understanding between the two of us [Vinnie and Philip] before anything happens at all. Otherwise I think… There is a great percentage of me that says, ‘This generation deserves it. Let’s do it.’ And then there’s a reservation in me that says, ‘You know what, man? Legacies get passed down. This, that, the other. Maybe we should leave it alone and just let it be part of lore and the history and whatnot.'”