The hype surrounding the Pantera reunion has slowed down a bit when the infamous former remarks and actions of the frontman Phil Anselmo have risen once again. Let’s say a few upcoming festivals are a no go for the band. On his YouTube channel, the Haunted guitarist Ola Englund shared his thoughts about the controversy regarding Anselmo and whether it affected his perspective of the band.
“Stupid thing to do, joke or not,” Englund said about Anselmo’s previous statements at the 2016 Dimebag Darrel tribute concert. “What Anselmo did during the ‘Dimebash’ in 2016 – it’s very serious, and I have to be honest, it did shift my views about Phil Anselmo. Was his apology legit? It probably was legit. But it doesn’t make the situation better because of it.”
However, the guitarist added that Pantera was more than Anselmo, exclaiming, “Did it make me stop listening to Pantera? No, definitely not. Pantera is more than Phil Anselmo; that’s the music I grew up with. And I love Pantera, man; that’s what makes this situation so shitty at the back of my head. I saw this coming, that this would surface again, seeing they are doing the Pantera tribute right now.”
The 2016 event in honor of Dimebag Darrell had gone out of a typical tribute when Phil Anselmo’s racist outburst, where he made Nazi salutes and shouted ‘white power,’ became the shocking moments of the event. Although Anselmo apologized for his words later on, most people were on the fence.
Several years later, his words have circled back, and major festivals are dropping Pantera. German festivals Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park recently announced that Pantera would not perform at either venue. In addition, their show in Vienna, Austria, was also canceled. The hype around the reunion wasn’t enough to shake off the frontman’s words back in 2016. What do you think about the situation?
