Alter Bridge's Mark Tremonti has revealed that "a number of years ago," Pantera bassist Rex Brown invited him to throw in his name "in the hat" for the vacant guitar role should a comeback ever materialize.
The year 2022 will be remembered for a lot of things and the return of Pantera — now with guitarist Zakk Wylde and drummer Charlie Benante joining Brown and singer Philip Anselmo — is of course one of the major highlights.
Wylde, in the minds of many, was the only obvious choice to step into Dimebag Darrell's role to celebrate the band's legacy. The two were very close friends and his name was consistently connected with the idea of a Pantera comeback for years and years.
Even so, it appears other guitarists were at least being theoretically considered as fans continued to cling on to hope that Pantera would one day return to the stage in some form or another.
"Hell no!," exclaims Tremonti with a laugh when asked in an interview with Overdrive if he would step into Wylde's shoes if given the opportunity.
He then recalls a moment when Brown lightly gauged his interest in playing guitar for Pantera.
"A number of years ago, I was talking with Rex at the Download Festival, and he was talking about a possible Pantera reunion. He looked at me and said; 'You should put your name in the hat,' and I was like; 'No way, man!'" You have to be a certain type of personality to take on that role," he reasons.
Figuring that playing the material only accounts for a portion of the demands of that role, Tremonti, who rose to fame with Creed in the late 1990s and early 2000s, explains, "It’s not just about the playing, it’s very much the personality, and Dime had a huge presence. Put it this way, nobody’s gonna flip off Zakk Wylde onstage, they very well might do that to me, but there’s just no way I would put myself in that situation."
On Dec. 2, Pantera played their first show with the new lineup at Mexico's Hell & Heaven Metal Fest. After additional festival dates, Brown contracted COVID and the band continued with two fill-ins to wrap up the year. In 2023, Pantera will continue to play around the world and will open for Metallica on select nights of their headlining tour. See all those dates here and, for tickets, head to this location.
