VINNIE PAUL: 'There's No Bad Blood At All' Between Me And Other Former PANTERA Members

Current HELLYEAH drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott has denied that there is any bad blood between him and his former PANTERA bandmates, claiming that he is "just not interested" in reconnecting with singer Philip Anselmo and bassist Rex Brown.

Asked by Metal Blast if he would consider reuniting with Anselmo and Brown, with guitarist Zakk Wylde (BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, OZZY OSBOURNE) standing in for Vinnie's late brother, "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, Vinnie once again rejected the idea, explaining, "Ah, man, I'm happy with doing what I'm doing here. 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."

Pressed if he thinks the bad blood that exists between him and his former bandmates can be put to rest eventually, Vinnie 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."

Vinnie Paul recently told Germany's EMP Rock Invasion that it is "not right at all" for fans to continue to clamor for a PANTERA reunion. He explained, "People are selfish, man. They want what they want; they don't care what you want. And it's unfortunate that people go, 'Oh, wow, man, they can get Zakk Wylde to jump up there on stage and it's PANTERA again.' No, it's not, you know. It's not that simple. If Eddie Van Halen was to get shot in the head four times next week, would everybody be going, 'Hey, man, Zakk, go play for VAN HALEN. Just call it VAN HALEN.' You see what I'm saying? I mean, it's really selfish for people to think that, and it's stupid. It's not right at all."

Vinnie added, "They call it a reunion for a reason. It's called bringing the original members back to what it was. So there's a lot of these things that they call reunions that aren't really reunions. They've got one dude from the band floating around in them, you know. That's not a true reunion. With PANTERA, it'll never be possible."

PANTERA broke up in 2003 due to an ongoing rift between Anselmo and the rest of the band.

Dimebag was shot and killed by a crazed gunman while performing with his and Vinnie's post-PANTERA act DAMAGEPLAN at a Columbus, Ohio rock club in December 2004.

Vinnie and Philip's got even more acrimonious when Vinnie indirectly blamed Philip for Dimebag's death, suggesting that some remarks the vocalist had made about Dimebag in print just weeks earlier might have incited Dimebag's killer.

Vinnie and HELLYEAH are touring in support of their latest album, "Blood For Blood", and will head out on a North American tour later this month as guests of FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH and VOLBEAT.