Anthrax’s Scott Ian Shares Honest Opinion on Pantera Reunion, Explains How Dimebag Darrell Would React to It

While talking to Primordial Radio, Anthrax guitarist and founding member Scott Ian reflected on Phil Anselmo and Rex Brown continuing with the Pantera name with Zakk Wylde and his Anthrax bandmate Charlie Benante. There’s been a lot of discussion about whether this counts as an actual band or whether it’s more of a tribute. And Scott Ian also shared his thoughts on the matter during the interview.

When asked how he feels about Zakk Wylde filling in for the late Dimebag Darrell in Pantera, Ian said (transcript via Blabbermouth):

“Oh, man. You know what? The two of those dudes [Zakk and Darrell], they were as thick as thieves, those two guys. They were so close, there was definitely a bond… I won’t go as far as to say… Look, obviously, Darrell and Vinnie were brothers. Zakk was probably as close as you could get to actually having a blood relation to Darrell. Those two dudes were, like I said, thick as thieves, man.”

“As long as I knew Darrell, and I hate to ever say, ‘I knew the guy and this is what he would want’ — I feel a little uncomfortable ever doing anything like that — but in this situation, I feel like I would make an exception because I would truly think Darrell, based on my many, many, many, many conversations over the years with him, would have definitely said, ‘If I ain’t here, you’ve gotta get Zakk up there to fucking fly the flag.’ It just sounds like something Darrell would have said. So, yeah, I think Zakk is — he’s the guy; he is the guy.”

He also adds:

“And I think the other thing… Not to get too much into the weeds on this, ’cause I know there’s a lot of people out there with a lot of opinions. That’s how it is — because of the Internet, everybody gets to put their opinion out there. There’s no editors anymore — it’s just opinions.”

“So if you want my opinion, this is a tribute, and that’s what it is meant to be. This is a tribute to one of the best bands in the history of heavy metal. It’s a tribute that also happens to have two of the bandmembers in it, along with two guys who, I don’t think there’s anyone better to be able to pay tribute to Pantera than Zakk and Charlie.”

In last month’s interview for Ultimate Guitar, Zakk Wylde also discussed the “tribute vs. the real thing” issue, explaining:

“It was so funny, because somebody was like, ‘It’s not Pantera!’ Of course it’s not Pantera. [laughs] It’s Phill, Rex and two of their buddies getting together to honor Dime, Vinnie and all their achievements. It’s a celebration of Pantera and all the mountains they conquered. It’s the way I look at it.”

Photos: Ozzy Delaney (Scott Ian (8167175501)), Rik Goldman (Dimebag Darrell with Pantera)