“It was so funny, because somebody was like, ‘It’s not Pantera!,’ Wylde said. “Of course it’s not Pantera. It’s Phil, Rex and two of their buddies getting together to honor Dime, Vinnie and all their achievements.”

“It’s a celebration of Pantera,” he continued. “And all the mountains they conquered. It’s the way I look at it.”

Later in the interview, Wylde also recalled how he was asked to be join the legends on stage for the December shows.

“There was always word about that going around,” Wylde said about the Pantera celebration. “And I just always said, ‘That’s up to the guys.’ It’s almost kind of like, the way I always viewed it, if Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding called up Eric Clapton because Eric and Jimi, they’re all friends. And they’re just like, ‘Eric, we’re gonna get together, and we’re gonna go honor Jimi. Would you sing and play Jimi’s stuff?’ Of course Eric would do it. I mean, that’s his buddy. Of course, I would do it.

“It’s like, ‘Zakk, would you ever do it?’ It’s like, ‘Well, of course I’m going to do it. Why would I not?’ I’m going to do best job I can, obviously, but that’s not my decision, that’s the guys. Back in the day with Vinnie, there were discussions, and then, after Vinnie passed away, I didn’t think anything would ever happen. I remember Phil [Anselmo] called me one night, and was like, ‘Zakk, me and Rex [Brown] would really love it if you would honor Dime.’

“And I was like, ‘Of course, guys, I would always be here to honor Dime and all your achievements.’ The way I looked at it — It’s just a bunch of friends getting together, honoring their buddies, you know what I mean?”

The first of these shows will take place on December 2 at Mexico’s Hell & Heaven Metal Fest alongside the Scorpions, Meshuggah, Arch Enemy and Cradle of Filth. On December 6, they’ll perform at the Monterey Metal Fest in Monterey Mexico alongside Judas Priest, Mercyful Fate and Behemoth. Later in December, Pantera are scheduled to perform at Knotfest’s three South American installments, namely Colombia, Chile and Brasil on December 9, 12 and 18 respectively. (Revolver)