Following Phil Anselmo’s addiction issues and Pantera’s split, the relationship between the vocalist and the Abbott brothers got strained. In addition, a feud started between Anselmo and Vinnie Paul following Dimebag Darrell’s death in 2004.
Shortly before Darrell’s passing, the vocalist said that the guitarist deserved a severe beating in an interview. This comment reportedly caused Paul to blame the Pantera frontman for his brother’s murder.
The Pantera vocalist touched on this in his interviews throughout the years. For example, in a 2015 chat with High Times, while talking about making up with the drummer, he cited it as the reason behind his resentment toward his former bandmate:
“He watched his brother get murdered. But he’s pinned the guilt on the wrong guy, and I resent it.”
Still, he explained if he wanted to make amends with the drummer as follows:
“I would love to do that one thing. Straight up—I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again right here: My door is open. You hear me? I come with love. But I doubt that Vinnie Paul will unlock his door.”
Referring to the times he struggled with addiction, the singer went on:
“I know him—fear controls him. It’s a shame, but it always has. Fear controls Vince, and I don’t know why, but he fears me something fierce. And I love the guy! I would love to have the opportunity to apologize the way I apologized to my family, to my friends, and everybody for losing my mind for a period of my life that I regret to this second.”
He further added:
“In retrospect, it brings up shame in my heart—that at one point in my life, I was this zombie, you know? It gets very hard to say you’re sorry enough times to your loved ones. I’d love to have that opportunity with Vince, but like I said, he’s gonna drink and go to a tit bar and be superficial. And that’s sad. Therapy don’t come out of a whiskey bottle.”
In 2017, Pantera bassist Rex Brown revealed that Vinnie Paul cut contact with his former bandmates after his brother’s death. As far as the news goes, the dispute between him and Phil Anselmo continued until the drummer’s death from heart disease in 2018.
