You can add another date to the Pantera celebration taking place this December. Philip Anselmo and Rex Brown along with Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante will revisit some of Pantera's fan favorites while playing the Monterrey Metal Fest on Dec. 6 at Estadio Mobil Super in Monterrey, Mexico.
The festival has a stellar lineup with Judas Priest, Mercyful Fate, Behemoth, Stryper and more set to play. Tickets for the Monterrey Metal Fest can be purchased here, with additional information available via the event's website.
The new date falls in line with the rest of the band's previously announced touring for the end of the year. The group had previously announced performances at Mexico's Hell & Heaven Metal Fest on Dec. 2 in Toluca, Mexico, as well as Knotfest Colombia, Knotfest Chile and Knotfest Brasil on Dec, 9, 11 and 18.
In mid-July, Billboard reported that the band had indeed returned with plans to tour in 2023. One day after this announcement came (nothing was communicated through Pantera's official channel), the outlet also shared that Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne, Black Label Society) and Charlie Benante (Anthrax) will respectively occupy the guitar and drum slots formerly held down by the late Abbott brothers, Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul.
Speaking with Sirius XM's Eddie Trunk in late July, Wylde said of the comeback, "It's gonna be awesome ... When Vinnie was still with us, it was always rolling around that, 'Zakk, would you honor Dime and all of us get together and do this thing?' And I said, 'Fellows, whenever you wanna do this thing, I'll be over here waiting in the dugout and in the bullpen. And just call me when you need me and I'll learn everything and we'll go do this.'"
Benante, another musician who was close friends with the Abbott brothers, said in that same interview with Trunk, "I can't go do this as the drummer from Anthrax because it would be a different sound completely. So the way I'm gonna do that is if you close your eyes, it's gonna sound like it's Vinnie, basically. And that's how it's gonna be… The sound is gonna sound exactly like him."
"My friendship with Darrell goes a long way, and I love both of those guys so much," Benante added, "So, for me, it was a very emotional thing to do this. That's what it's all about — it's all about those two guys and doing it… I don't wanna see anybody else doing it but me, 'cause I'm gonna do it right."
As you might expect, there's been plenty of commentary on the Pantera revival. Several top rock stars recently weighed in on the topic at the Louder Than Life festival. You can watch that here.
So far, no U.S. dates have been announced, but stay tuned as more shows are expected to be added.
