ARLINGTON, Texas — North Texas metal fans will likely want to "Walk" to a North Texas venue at some point next year following this reveal: The surviving members of the Arlington-based metal act Pantera announced this week that they plan to reunite for a 2023 tour that arrives nearly 20 years after the band broke up.
On Wednesday, Billboard first reported the major metal news that the two living members of the band -- vocalist Phil Anselmo and bassist Rex Brown -- would be reuniting for a North American tour next year, and that they had signed a deal with the Artist Group International agency to book their tour dates.
Joining Anselmo and Brown in the lineup for the reunion, Billboard reported Thursday, will be guitarist Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society, Ozzy Osbourne) and drummer Charlie Benante (Anthrax).
It should be noted that neither Anselmo nor Brown had as long a tenure in Pantera as brothers "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott and Vinnie Paul Abbott, the band's respective founding guitarist and drummer.
In 2004, Dimebag was tragically shot and killed by a fan while performing onstage alongside Vinnie Paul in their post-Pantera project Damageplan during a show in Ohio. He was 38 years old.
Vinnie Paul passed at age 54 in 2018 after a bout with heart disease.
Even in the wake of the band's 2003 breakup and the Abbott brothers' deaths, Pantera's legend and legacy has continued to loom large -- certainly nationally, but especially so locally, given the band's deep North Texas roots.
While the band was famous for its ties to Arlington, other locals have surely heard music by these "Cowboys From Hell" without even realizing it.
For starters, the band, which was famously tight with the Dallas Stars' 1999 Stanley Cup-winning roster, recorded that year the goal horn song that the team still plays following every goal it scores during home games at the American Airlines Center. (You know the song; it's the one that goes "Dallas! Stars!" ad infinitum that everyone in the crowd shouts along to when celebrating a Stars score.)
As for the youngsters out there? They're maybe more likely to recognize Pantera for their guest spot on an old "Spongebob Squarepants" episode called "Pre-Hibernation." (That episode features the titular Spongebob and his pal Sandy going on various extreme adventures before Sandy has to go into hibernation, and it features the Pantera song "Death Rattle" playing in the background.)
Pantera saw its peak success from 1990 through 1996, during which it released four albums ("Cowboys From Hell," "Vulgar Display of Power," "Far Beyond Driven" and "The Great Southern Trendkill") that all reached platinum status by selling more than one million copies.
In all, the band claims it has sold more than 200 million albums total.
No dates have yet been announced for the 2023 reunion tour.
Still, you can safely bet the DFW-based band will be making at least one stop to the metroplex on their return run.
