Drummer Charlie Benante of Anthrax has joined Pantera members Rex Brown and Philip Anselmo, as well as Zakk Wylde for Pantera comeback. Benante says “it felt right” for him to join the group for their first live performance in over 20 years. The group was given the go ahead by by the estates of the band’s founders, Vincent and Darrell Abbott.
Pantera recently played shows in Mexico and South America and are set to stage some of their own headlining concerts. Pantera will also headline a number of major festivals across North America, Europe and Asia and will support Metallica on their massive North American stadium tour in 2023 and 2024.
During an appearance on the “Talk Is Jericho” podcast, Benante said: “Philip called me up — and I immediately said, ‘Yup. I wanna do it.’ It just felt right. For some reason, with Darrell and Vinnie being gone, I, myself, missed these songs. You can listen to ’em all you want, but I think having them being performed in front of you and being performed the right way, it really resonated with a lot of people once they really found out that this was gonna happen.” Benante went on to say that he knows “that there’s die-hard fans who have their issues with” him, Wylde, Anselmo and Brown performing under the Pantera name, “but for me and Zakk, we’re just honoring our friends, to be honest with you. That’s what we’re doing.” (Blabbermouth)
Find more information about upcoming Pantera shows here. Find more information and tickets for Metallia’s tour, supported by Pantera, here.
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