In a new interview with Consequence, Dream Theater’s Mike Portnoy named Pantera’s 1992 album Vulgar Display of Power as one of the top 10 albums that influenced his drumming. Reflecting on the album, he said: “Vulgar Display of Power came out around the same time as Dream Theater’s Images and Words in 1992. We were actually labelmates at the time, working with the same people. I remember hearing it when it was released—it just floored me. I was already a fan from Cowboys from Hell, which came out a year or two earlier, but this album took their sound to a whole new level. For me, Pantera was the band that kept metal alive in the ’90s.
“By the time Dream Theater was coming up in the early ’90s, thrash was starting to fade, and grunge was killing all of us,” he continued. “We were all fighting grunge, whether you were metal, prog, or anything else. To me, Pantera was the band that carried the flag. When Metallica and Anthrax were going through their own changes, Pantera stood strong, carrying the metal flag throughout the ’90s. I’d also give credit to bands like Machine Head and Sepultura for their part in that as well.
“Pantera combined the heaviness of thrash and speed metal with a real groove,” Portnoy added. “I always appreciated that. They had a Texas swing, a swagger to them. They had the riffs and heaviness of thrash and speed metal bands, but with the swagger of Mötley Crüe or Guns N’ Roses, as strange as that sounds. That might even explain why they toured with Skid Row when this album came out.
“Vinnie Paul [Abbott, Pantera drummer] brought a swing and groove to his playing that a lot of thrash and speed metal drummers didn’t have. And I say that with all due respect because many of those drummers blow my mind and have greatly influenced me. But Vinnie, like Mikkey Dee [King Diamond, Motörhead], had that groove and swagger, making the riffs that Dimebag [Darrell Abbott, Pantera guitarist] played really swing.”
Last year, Portnoy commented on the fact that Pantera’s surviving members, Philip Anselmo (vocals) and Rex Brown (bass), reunited with guitarist Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne, Black Label Society) and drummer Charlie Benante (Anthrax) for a world tour under the Pantera name. Anselmo, Brown, Wylde, and Benante headlined major festivals across South America, Asia, North America, and Europe, and also did their own headlining concerts. Additionally, they supported Metallica on a massive North American stadium tour in 2023 and 2024.
According to Billboard, the new Pantera lineup received approval from the estates of the band’s founders—drummer Vincent “Vinnie Paul” Abbott and guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott—as well as from Rex Brown, who in 2021 had said that Wylde wouldn’t tour with Pantera if a reunion happened. It’s unclear what changed his mind.
Portnoy discussed the controversy surrounding Pantera’s comeback in an interview on That Rocks!, the weekly YouTube series hosted by Eddie Trunk, Jim Florentine, and Don Jamieson. When asked if he had seen the new Pantera lineup perform yet, the 57-year-old drummer said: “I caught their show in Reading, Pennsylvania. It was fricking phenomenal. I absolutely loved it. Charlie and Zakk are absolutely killing it. I couldn’t be happier for them. I think a lot of the naysayers who were skeptical at first are now eating their words and realizing how badass this is, and how important it is to keep that legacy alive.”
He continued: “I know it was hard for some people to accept at first, but I think the reality is if Dimebag hadn’t been killed, Pantera would have reunited by now. I understand Vinnie not wanting to do it without Dimebag—it was his brother, and I get that. But now that Vinnie’s no longer with us, this is Phil and Rex’s band too. Carrying on the legacy for a new generation is a great thing. Pantera was an important band for metal, and why shouldn’t they be out there doing it? They’re doing it with so much taste, honor, and respect for Dime and Vinnie. They’re there at every show, right on Charlie’s bass drum heads. They’re doing it right.”
https://blabbermouth.net/news/mike-portnoy-pantera-was-the-band-that-kept-metal-alive-in-the-90s
