Former Pantera/Damageplan and current Hellyear drummer Vinnie Paul recently spoke with Metal Blast and naturally, the topic of a Pantera reunion came up. Vinnie was asked if a collaboration with his former bandmates, vocalist Phil Anselmo and bassist Rex Brown, is without a doubt not happening, to which he said:
“Ah, man, I’m happy with doing what I’m doing here. Like I said, Pantera had 14 amazing years, and without my brother being here to be a part of it, it would be a travesty, man. I’m just not interested in it at all.”
That was followed up with a question about any bad blood between them to which Paul replied:
“To me, there’s no bad blood at all. It’s like when you get a divorce from somebody, there’s a reason why you got a divorce. You don’t have to stay in touch with that person, you don’t have to fucking see that person, or do anything with them. I’m just not interested.”
It’s nice to hear that last statement from Vinnie Paul because for the longest time it seemed like the dude hated Phil’s guts but it looks like any previous resentment is now gone. It’s water under the bridge, he’s happy with what he’s doing and I’m sure the others are too. Even though many clamoring for a reunion you have to respect him for his decision. Just because you want him to do a reunion doesn’t mean he has to, if he doesn’t want to then he doesn’t and that’s that. He’s moved on and so should we. We should all be happy that at least he’s in a good place after what he went through.