Overkill Drummer Contemplates Dimebag Darrell And Vinnie Paul’s Take On Pantera’s Reunion

Overkill drummer Jason Bittner recently shared his thoughts on the reunion of Pantera with its surviving members. During an interview with Pod Scum, the drummer addressed the criticism from certain fans about Anselmo and the bassist Rex Brown performing in Pantera without Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrel.

Bittner claimed what Dimebag and Vinnie would have thought of the band’s current lineup. He said:

“What it comes down to, and I’m not gonna be one of those guys to say, ‘Well, ’cause I knew Dime and Vinnie…’, but I knew Dime and Vinnie… What it is, is a lot of people who don’t know these guys, who didn’t know these guys who just talk sh*t: ‘Oh, Dime and Vinnie, they wouldn’t want this.’ I beg to differ with that. I think that the two of them are looking down, and they’re quite happy with what’s going on.”

The drummer praised the new members and added:

“It’s one of the greatest guitar players and one of the greatest drummers to ever play rock and metal. So, give me a break.”

Zakk Wylde, Black Label Society frontman and the current guitarist for Pantera, also stated his thoughts on Dimebag and Vinnie. Wylde believes that Dimebag is watching him as the reunion happens. In the interview with Guitar World, when asked whether he feels the brother’s presence, he said:

“All the time. And it’s so crazy because when we started talking about doing this thing, there would be constant reminders about it wherever I went. I told Barb, ‘Dime is willing this thing to happen. He wants this to happen.’ I’d just get constant reminders of him all the time, whether it was a picture or something on my phone, or I’d be driving and I’d see a Pantera license plate or a ‘333’ somewhere – that was Dime’s lucky number. I was literally going, ‘He’s watching and he’s here with me.'”

Pantera disbanded almost 20 years ago, but the remaining members Phil Anselmo and Rex Brown, along with Charlie Benante of Anthrax and Zakk Wylde, have reunited and are currently touring. The tour is set to end next year, for which you can find the dates here.