Zakk Wylde has hinted at the possibility of Pantera releasing new material based on unfinished riffs that were recorded by the late electric guitar great, Dimebag Darrell.
The Black Label Society axeman has been serving as Pantera’s guitarist since 2022, when it was announced that the metal greats would be reforming with a new-look lineup comprising original members Rex Brown and Phil Anselmo, as well as Wylde and Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante.
It was first conceived as a live project that would serve as a celebration of Pantera’s music – and a tribute to both Dimebag Darrell and his late brother, Vinnie Paul – but, according to Wylde, there have been some informal, tentative talks to take the new lineup into the studio and cut new material.
And this new material could potentially bring to life unfinished songs and riffs that had once been tracked by Dimebag Darrell on a tape recorder.
When asked by Guitar World's Andrew Daly whether new Pantera music was in the pipeline, Wylde reflects, “I remember there were talks about stuff because Dime recorded tons of unfinished riffs, and there were things he had lying around.
“Like songs, or incomplete songs, or whatever he was jamming on, you know? It was just him putting stuff on a tape recorder, jamming a riff, and it coming out of an amp.”
Expanding on how Pantera could treat this unearthed material, Wylde goes on, “The way I look at it is, it’s just like if Eric Clapton was playing Mitch [Mitchell] and Noel [Redding], and honoring Jimi [Hendrix], and calling it the 'Jimi Hendrix Celebration', and they went out, and Eric was playing Jimi’s stuff with Noel and Mitch.
“And then, it’s like if they were like, ‘Bro, we have these songs that Jimi never finished. There’s one called Purple Haze, another called The Wind Cries Mary, another called Manic Depression, and another called Little Wing.’
“And it’s like, you know, ‘Jimi never… it’s just him on a tape recorder, with a rough outline of the song.’ So, it would be like if Eric, Noel, and Mitch went in there and recorded Purple Haze because Jimi had [demoed] it on acoustic guitar. It’s already written, you know what I mean?”
“It’s still the songs that Dime and Vinnie had written,” Wylde continues. “It’s just that they weren’t recorded [professionally], it was just on a tape recorder, you know? Anything like that would still be what it is: a celebration of them and a tribute to them.”
Despite the tease of new Pantera material based on old Dimebag demos, Wylde is quick to downplay expectations, and stresses there is no timeline on when – or even if – it will ever come to fruition.
“It’s just talks of it, like, if the guys would ever want to do something like that, you know?” he asserts. “And they have so many songs in their catalog, so if the guys want to do new songs and mix it up, then we’ll throw some dark horses and hidden gems out there.”
It wouldn’t be the first posthumous use of archive Dimebag Darrell gems – one of his unused solos once ended up on Nickelback’s best-selling album.
Keep your eyes peeled to GuitarWorld.com for the full interview with Zakk Wylde.
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