The first Pantera reunion concerts have been announced.
The “Walk” metallers will play their first shows since breaking up in 2003 at Slipknot‘s 2022 South American Knotfest festivals, taking place this December in Colombia, Chile and Brazil.
As previously reported by Billboard, the Pantera lineup will consist of the group’s surviving members, vocalist Phil Anselmo and bassist Rex Brown, as well as Black Label Society‘s Zakk Wylde and Anthrax‘s Charlie Benante in place of the late Abbott brothers, guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul.
Dime was murdered in 2004, while Paul died in 2018 of a heart condition.
News that Pantera was getting back together was first published by Billboard in July, which reported that the band would be touring in 2023. Since the news broke, metal fans have been debating whether the lineup of Anselmo, Brown, Wylde and Benante constituted a “true” Pantera reunion, given the absence of foundational members Dime and Paul.
Wylde and Benante have since characterized the project as a “celebration” of Pantera’s music, with Wylde telling the Danny Wimmer Presents YouTube channel, “Obviously it’s not Pantera, Pantera’s those four guys: it’s Phil, Rex, Dime and Vinnie.”
Still, the Knotfest lineup posters shared by the Pantera Twitter account simply bill the band as “Pantera.”
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