Drummer Charlie Benante talked about Pantera’s future plans during an exclusive Q&A session with Bravewords.
Regarding this, Benante said:
“I’ve always talked to Philip throughout the years… then Phil called me up, and we just talked on the phone. When he said it to me, I said, ‘Absolutely!’ I was ready to do it with them because, as I explained it to him, this was more emotional to me than anything else. It wasn’t about financial gain or anything like that.
”I know what those guys meant to me; especially Darrell, I was very close with him. And the same with Vinnie too. But I would talk to Darrell a lot. The one thing that made me feel good about Philip and Rex, they said, ‘There’s no one else that we wanted to do this but you.’ Not just because of my ability, it goes back to my friendship with these guys throughout the years.
”That hit me on an emotional level. I wouldn’t want to see anybody else up there but me doing this. After I got off the phone with Philip, I was like, that’s it. I’m getting my s*it together and I’m doing this the right way. And that’s exactly how I approached it.”
About a possible new Pantera release, Benante said:
“Oh man… who knows? Creatively, if we are just flowing and getting going, and things are starting to be really good, musically speaking, you never know what could happen. I’ve got tons of riffs.
”But we’re putting the cart before the horse. I like the positivity there, but I don’t know how people would react to that either at this point. I think first, let’s get out there and establish that we can play. I’m always open to the future.”