Metal Anarchy

During a recent appearance on “The Metallica Report,” Pantera’s Phil Anselmo and Rex Brown opened up about resurrecting the band. The group’s decision to move forward without the late Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell has been met with controversy, but Anselmo says he believes the Abbott brothers would have wanted the brand to live on.

Anselmo said the following:

“It’s empowering. It is incredibly beautiful, and you feel so much love when you’re up there. And if you take it in, it’s a great feeling, man. These days, man, that’s where me and Rex, you know, we get to dig the shows more.

When we were younger, we were at war and when we were on stage; we were just angry and at war, man. Now it’s — the songs are there. I can concentrate on singing the fricking songs, number one. Geez, that’s a relief for me, man. I don’t have to break my fricking body in part anymore.”

He also talked about working with Charlie Benante and Zakk Wylde on the new version of the band:

“Them two dudes, so enthusiastic. And they got their damn thing and they got their own damn legacy, both of them, without us. It’s an honor to play with them. They’re the nicest frickin guys in the world, man. I’m just so… [Laughs] Zakk, he’s a crack-up, man. He’s a sweetheart. And fricking Charlie, we’ve known Charlie since ’87, man. It’s a long time.”

Brown chimed in as well:

“The way [Charlie] plays Vinnie’s parts is uncanny. I don’t think there’s any drummer out there that could play the way that Vinnie did. I would close my eyes, because I was trying to get tight, and sometimes if I close my eyes, I can hear a little better; I think I can. And there’d be a tear of joy just coming down, because that was so close to what Vinnie and I used to play. So you have the foundation.”

Anselmo continued:

“The low end sounds so PANTERA, man. It’s freaking me out.”

Anselmo also added the following when the interviewer said the new lineup has Vinnie and Dimebag’s “spirit inside it”:

“Only thing I can say is, man, I know for a damn fact Vince and Dime would want us to do this, hands down. They would want the PANTERA brand or the legacy to go on. And I don’t know what you believe in, but sometimes, you know, you would like to think that them old fellas are looking down on us, giving us the thumbs-up.”

[via Blabbermouth]