THE BEAST

PANTERA   will perform at the   Monterrey Metal Fest   on December 6 at Estadio Mobil Super in Monterrey, Mexico. Also scheduled to appear are   JUDAS PRIEST ,   MERCYFUL FATE ,   BEHEMOTH   and   STRYPER , among others.

As previously reported,   PANTERA   will also co-headline the first night of this year's edition of Mexico's   Hell & Heaven Metal Fest . The reactivated band will share the stage with   SCORPIONS ,   MESHUGGAH ,   ARCH ENEMY ,   EPICA   and   CRADLE OF FILTH , among other artists, on December 2 at Foro Pegaso in Toluca.

Other festivals   PANTERA   has been confirmed for are   Knotfest Colombia ,   Knotfest Chile   and   Knotfest Brasil , all of which will take place in December.   Knotfest Colombia   is scheduled for Friday, December 9 at Campin Circuit of Bogotá.   Knotfest Chile   is slated to take place on Sunday, December 11 at Estadio Monumental in Santiago.   Knotfest Brasil   will follow on Sunday, December 18 at Sambódromo do Anhembi in São Paulo.

In July, it was announced that   PANTERA 's surviving members   Philip Anselmo   (vocals) and   Rex Brown   (bass) will unite with guitarist   Zakk Wylde   ( OZZY OSBOURNE ,   BLACK LABEL SOCIETY ) and drummer   Charlie Benante   ( ANTHRAX ) for a world tour under the   PANTERA   banner.

Anselmo   and   Brown , along with   Wylde   and   Benante , will headline a number of major festivals across North America and Europe and stage some of their own headline concerts.

According to   Billboard , the lineup has been given a green light by the estates of the band's founders, drummer   Vincent "Vinnie Paul" Abbott   and guitarist   "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott , as well as   Brown , who last year said   Wylde   wouldn't tour with   PANTERA   if a reunion were to happen. It's unclear what changed his mind.

Benante   told   SiriusXM 's   "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk"   about how he plans to approach the   PANTERA   gig: "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."

Wylde   said that he had a similar mindset. "You approach it the same way as you do when I'm playing with   Ozzy ," he said. "Obviously I've gotta learn [ Randy ]   Rhoads 's stuff and I've gotta learn   Jake 's [ E. Lee ] stuff, and when I was doing the [ BLACK ]   SABBATH   stuff, you learn it and do it as faithful as you can.   Charlie 's gotta learn all of   Vinnie 's parts. You approach it as if you're in a cover band. When we do the   ZAKK SABBATH   stuff," referring to his   BLACK SABBATH   cover band, "I don't start changing lyrics midway through   'War Pigs' . You learn the songs — so that's what you do."

A year ago,   Anselmo   said that he was up for reuniting with   Brown   for a special tour celebrating the music of   PANTERA . The 54-year-old singer, who has spent the past few years playing a   PANTERA -centric set with his solo band,   THE ILLEGALS , discussed the possibility of re-teaming with his former   PANTERA   bandmate during an interview with Brazil's   Inside With Paulo Baron . Asked if he and   Rex   would be open to playing some shows in celebration of   PANTERA 's legacy,   Anselmo   said: "If   Rex   and I had a show to play, or we were ever gonna be on stage again together, I would welcome it with open arms. I love   Rex . And he'd be the same way. We're brothers forever. So playing on stage together, or doing some shows together, is not out of the question. It could happen."

In April 2021,   Rex   told   Eonmusic   that he and   Philip   still get offers for a   PANTERA   tribute tour. "But if you don't have the other guys in the band, it's not going to sound the same," he said. "If we were ever to do something like that, it would have to be spot-on, or I wouldn't do it. It would be a tribute."

Talk about a possible   PANTERA   "reunion" intensified when   Anselmo   regularly joined   Wylde 's   BLACK LABEL SOCIETY   to perform   PANTERA 's song   "I'm Broken"   during   DOWN 's 2014 stint on the   "Revolver Golden Gods Tour" . That buzz only got stronger after   Brown   joined the jam on May 23, 2014 when the tour swung through Texas.

Up until his passing,   Vinnie   remained on non-speaking terms with   Anselmo , whom the drummer indirectly blamed for   Dimebag 's death.

Vinnie Paul   and   Dimebag   co-founded   PANTERA . When   PANTERA   broke up in 2003, they formed   DAMAGEPLAN . On December 8, 2004, while performing with   DAMAGEPLAN   at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio,   Dimebag   was shot and killed onstage by a troubled schizophrenic who believed that the members of   PANTERA   were stealing his thoughts.

PANTERA   is managed by   Scott McGhee   of   1 Degree Music Entertainment . The band's legal representative is   Nick Ferrara And Associates .   PANTERA   is booked internationally by   Rod MacSween   at   ITB .   Artist Group International   will book   PANTERA 's North American dates, with   Dennis Arfa   and   Peter Pappalardo   as the responsible agents.

"We are thrilled to be working with such an iconic band and bringing their music back to the fans,"   Pappalardo   told   Billboard . Via Blabbermouth