Ask yourself this: could you work with Phil Anselmo? The explosive Pantera frontman had been in a war of words with his former bandmates Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell since before their breakup in 2003; following the murder of Dimebag in 2004, the war escalated, with vicious verbal barbs and near-threats being traded back and forth throughout the heavy metal press. The tension began rising within Pantera when Anselmo began acting moody and retreating into privacy during a tour; the band took offense to this, but Anselmo claims he was in excruciating back pain the whole time that consumed his mood and drove him to do everything necessary to relieve it, including excessive drinking (ask your doctor before treating back pain with Crown Royal). Whos to say whose ego really ran wild in Pantera? For all the supposed difficulty in getting along with the man, Anselmos gone on to front other big-selling metal acts, including Down and Superjoint Ritual. The fact remains that Anselmo and Vinnie Paul still dont have too many good things to say about one another Anselmo was forbidden from attending the funeral of Dimebag Darrell, and in 2006 Vinnie Paul said of the possibility of a reconciliation and reunion, Absolutely not. That's it.
Kyle Schmidlin is a writer and musician living in Austin, TX. He manages the news blog at thirdrailnews.wordpress.com. Follow him at facebook.com/kyleschmidlin or twitter.com/kyleschmidlin1.
