Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett recently shared his thoughts about the current lineup of Pantera.
Kirk Hammett refuses to call it Pantera
During a recent interview with Star Tribune, Hammett refused to call it Pantera since it no longer has the two original members.
“I think it’s a great thing. It’s a tribute -band- to the brothers keeping their legacy alive,” Hammett explained. “And it’s a great thing for Pantera fans. Even though it’s not the original Pantera, you still get to see Phil and Rex, and Zakk and Charlie are doing a damn good job.”
A couple of years back, it was first announced that Pantera was making a comeback to the stage with the new lineup of Zakk Wylde, Phil Anselmo, Rex Brown and the Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante. One of the two new members agrees with Hammett’s comments.
“Well, [it’s] the Pantera celebration,” Zakk Wylde said in an interview with The Mistress Carrie Podcast last week.
“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.”
He added: “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.”
Rex Brown believes that the band is still Pantera even without two original members. In an interview, the rocker stated that the band is not a tribute band and referred to the situation as “just fate.”
Pantera is currently on tour and has three more shows scheduled for this year. Their 2025 tour begins on January 21 and concludes on February 25.
