In a recent interview with The Mistress Carrie Podcast, Zakk Wylde talked about joining the new and reformed version of Pantera. Though the guitarist has been actively touring with the band for well over two years now, he still refuses to call it ‘Pantera.’
“Well, [it’s] the Pantera celebration,” Wylde said before explaining why he doesn’t see the band as Pantera. “It’s not Pantera. Pantera is Dime, Vinnie, Phil and Rex. So that’s Pantera. But no, it’s a beautiful thing honoring the guys every night. Everybody’s having a blast. Everyone that comes down to the shows either — you have the Pantera faithful taking a trip down memory lane, and you’ve got all the younger, like Phil always calls it, the new blood. And it’s amazing every night how many… It’s just a testament to what the fellas created. Because we’ve got so many young people that have never seen Pantera before.”
It was first announced back in July 2022 that Pantera was returning to the stage with the new lineup of Wylde, Phil Anselmo, Rex Brown and the Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante. Two years in, and the guitarist doesn’t just refuse to call the band Pantera, but a tribute band as well.
“Yeah, that’s what I feel it is. It’s not even a tribute,” the rocker said during a chat with Igor Miranda. “It’s more just a Pantera celebration. Like whenever we go out and do the ‘Experience Hendrix’ [tours], which I always have a blast when I do that, it’s all of us going out and celebrating Jimi’s greatness. To me, this is [a] Pantera celebration. We’re celebrating all the mountains that Pantera conquered. So that’s what this is.”
Wylde was also asked about the possibility of creating new material with the band. “Nah, I don’t think so,” he responded. “Whenever Phil says that and all the younger kids are screaming and yelling, when they put the house lights on and everyone’s got their fists up in the air ’cause that’s the first time [they’re seeing Pantera live], I just look at like Vinnie and Dime, if they were on the side of the stage, and go, ‘See what you guys created.’ So it’s just, like, yeah, it’s awesome. It truly is, man. But, no, I don’t think [the plan is] to record [as Pantera].”
It’s not entirely clear how original members like Brown or Anselmo view the band now with new members. Still, it seems that the original and new members have gotten along well enough to tour together for the past two years.
You can listen to the interview down below.