Longtime Pantera producer Sterling Winfield is reportedly one of the people who control Pantera drummer Vincent “Vinnie Paul” Abbott’s estate. He recently spoke to Reckless Rock Radio 89.3 KNON FM about the reformation of Pantera, featuring surviving members Rex Brown (bass) and Philip Anselmo (vocals) along with guitarist Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne, Black Label Society) and drummer Charlie Benante (Anthrax).
Pantera might reunite
Winfield, who was one of the people who attended a Pantera dress rehearsal in New Orleans on November 21, less than two weeks before the reconfigured band played its first show, said:
“When I was in New Orleans, I knew it was gonna be huge because I got to see how serious they are taking this, how to heart they are taking this. Phil and Rex are different people now; they are not the same people from 20-something years ago. You mature, you grow up, you own your mistakes, you move forward in your life and you hope to make a better way for yourself. And that’s exactly what I see here.”
Winfield went on to say that “this is not a reunion”, despite the fact that Brown, Anselmo, Wylde and Benante are touring under the Pantera banner. “It is not Pantera 2.0, at least not at this point,” he said. “Whatever you wanna think, that’s fine; go ahead and make your assumptions. But it was the media that called this a reunion; it was the media that called this the reformation of Pantera — not them. They never put this out there as that; they put this strictly out there as a tribute to the brothers [Vinnie Paul and Pantera guitarist ‘Dimebag’ Darrell Abbott] and for the fans and for the music and for the legacy of this music, to bring it to another generation of people.”
He added: “There’s little kids out there wearing Pantera shirts, and it’s amazing to watch, because, yes, since Dime got killed, there’s a whole generation of people that have been born on this earth.”
