PHILIP ANSELMO: Until VINNIE PAUL And I Talk, You Can Forget About A PANTERA Reunion

France's Radio Metal recently conducted an interview with former PANTERA and current DOWN singer Philip Anselmo. You can listen to the entire chat at this location. A couple of excerpts follow below (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On former PANTERA bassist Rex Brown's statement in the video trailer for Brown's memoir, "Official Truth, 101 Proof: The Inside Story Of Pantera", that he still "think[s] about PANTERA, dream[s] about PANTERA" and has "nightmares about PANTERA" every day of his life:

Anselmo: "I don't have nightmares about PANTERA. I think about PANTERA every day, as well there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about [late PANTERA guitarist] Dimebag [Darrell Abbott] or I'm not reminded in one way or another of the days of PANTERA and how I view things today. Especially… Like, if a situation were to come up and I'm working with less experienced musicians, or something to that effect, especially with [my] solo band, I find myself trying to explain to them certain scenarios, and really, it always harkens back to my days with PANTERA, because those were such incredible learning experiences. Even just joining the band. You know, PANTERA, they had a lot success even before I was in the band — they had a lot of early success — so there were growing pains there. Even as we progressed on, all the way through… Every record's an expression of growing, or a learning experience, but none are as great as the memories I have with PANTERA. I guess that you could say the success, of course, was at its biggest and broadest, but in order for us to get to that success, it was a very long and hard and rigorous and physical journey. It always put a particular chip on our shoulders; we played gigs with attitude… with a lot of attitude. So, learning from this, it's indispensable knowledge, man — it's stuff that you carry with you for the rest of your life. But as far as what Rex said about nightmares, I don't have nightmares; most of my thoughts are very good memories…. Very, very good memories. But don't get me wrong: like any band, like any relationship, everything has its ups and downs. But for me, if I were to dwell on the negatives, it would feel like I was stagnating, it would feel like I was not being productive. I'm the type of guy that likes to put one foot in front of the other and make things happen, and in order for me to do that, I need to be in a positive frame of mind. And there's too many positives in my stint with PANTERA for me to be, I guess, bellyaching over all the bad things and whatnot. PANTERA, for me, was a very positive thinig in my life for many years, so… I choose to remember the good stuff."

On whether he is fed up having to answer questions about the possibility of a PANTERA reunion with Zakk Wylde (BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, OZZY OSBOURNE) filling in for the late "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott on guitar:

Anselmo: "I'm not fed up with it. I understand the…. I understand. I'm a music fan myself. I love music. I love bands, I love collecting music. And for your average fan out there, if you're a PANTERA fan, of course, you want to see it. And, really, if you think about it, our career was pretty short. And here we are in 2013 and we're still talking about PANTERA. Obviously there's a great strength there, obviously there's a great memory there. But as far as us reforming or anything like that, the only thing… Look, I've said it in the past… It's not a very hopeful thing to think about, because I would guess Vinnie Paul [Abbott, former PANTERA drummer and Dimebag's brother] and I would have to sit down and talk, and right now, I don't think he wants to talk about that at all. And he definitely, sure as hell, doesn't wanna talk to me. Put it this way: my door is open always; his door is closed and locked. And until we can sort the situation out — if we can ever sort the situation out — then I would pretty much forget about a PANTERA reunion."