Pantera bassist Rex Brown recently spoke out about the band’s reunion and the importance of their music reaching listeners once again. Despite facing criticism for performing without their original members, Brown emphasized the significance of honoring Pantera’s legacy and sharing their music with fans.
In a conversation with American Musical Supply, Brown highlighted the purpose behind their reunion, stating, “We’re not doing this for ourselves; we’re doing it for the name and the brand Pantera. And by God, this music needs to be heard again. It does. It needed to for a long f*cking time. And that’s what we’re here doing tonight… It’s just wonderful to be able to do this and pay homage to my music, the riffs that I wrote, or the riffs that Dime wrote, or the patterns that Vinnie played, and for what Phil came up with — tremendous impact on this music.”
Meanwhile, drummer Charlie Benante addressed the backlash from some older fans who criticized the new lineup for not replicating the sound of the original members. In an interview with Heavy, Benante urged naysayers to reconsider their opinions and emphasized the importance of experiencing the band’s performances firsthand.
“It’s more important to — again, like I said a little while ago about hearing these songs again… Some of these people who were negative at the start of this whole thing, my whole thing was just, please shut up for a minute and just wait. If you don’t wanna come, don’t come. But if you do wanna come, and just come and then witness it, and then afterwards you can say, ‘F*ck this. This was horrible.’ But that hasn’t happened. A lot of people are so positive about it and they enjoy it,” Benante remarked.