Anselmo open to Pantera reunion

Phil Anselmo says he’d hook up with former Pantera bandmates Vinnie Paul and Rex Brown again in a “heartbeat” if given the chance.

The Down and Superjoint Ritual frontman reports he’d only do it to honour the memory of guitarist Dimebag Darrell Abbott, who was shot and killed while onstage with Damageplan in 2004.

Anselmo tells The Metal Den: “If everybody was on board, I would do it in a fucking heartbeat.

“It would be in honour of our fallen brother Dimebag – that would motivate me to do it for no other reason, other than the contingency of people who want to see it or the whole generation or two that missed out on it.

“I get all sides of it, so count me in. Believe me, if the phone call came tomorrow I’d be the first one doing pushups!”

But Anselmo adds a note of caution, saying that chances of it happening are slim as he, bassist Rex Brown and drummer Vinnie Paul are busy with their own careers.

He continues: “The truth of the whole matter is I have moved on – and I move forward. And I think Vinnie Paul has done the same thing, and I think Rex has moved in his own direction.

“We could talk in circles all day but the truth is that if you don’t have the willingness of the remaining living members, then it’s not there. We had plenty of offers. But Vince is doing what he wants to do and all we can do is respect that.”

Hellyeah sticksman Paul said last year that while there was no bad blood between the surviving Pantera members, he had no interest in seeing them again.

Anselmo will head out on US tour with Superjoint next month and revealed he’s writing material for a future release.

Tour dates

Jul 10: Oklahoma Diamond Ballroom, OK

Jul 11: Houston Fitzgerald’s, TX

Jul 12: Dallas Gas Monkey, TX

Jul 14: Cincinnati Bogart’s, OH

Jul 15: Flint Machine Shop, MI

Jul 17: Poughkeepsie The Chance, NY

Jul 18: Lancaster Chameleon Club, PA

Jul 19: Huntington V Club, WV

Jul 21: Greensboro Greene Street, NC

Jul 23: Clarksville Warehouse Live, TN

Jul 24: Pensacola Vinyl Music Hall, FL

Jul 25: Shreveport Warehouse, LA

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers and magazines as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. After initially joining our news desk in the summer of 2014, he moved to the e-commerce team full-time in 2020. He maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott grew up listening to rock and prog, cutting his teeth on bands such as Marillion and Magnum before his focus shifted to alternative and post-punk in the late 80s. His favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Ned's Atomic Dustbin and Drab Majesty, but he also still has a deep love of Rush.