Alter Bridge and Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti recently talked about joining Pantera.

Mark Tremonti talks about the possibility of joining Pantera

In a new interview with Ireland’s Overdrive, Tremonti was asked if he would step into Zakk Wylde’s shoes for the Pantera comeback shows if he was approached about it. He responded:

“Hell no! [Laughs] A number of years ago, I was talking with Rex [Brown, Pantera bassist] at the Download festival, and he was talking about a possible Pantera  reunion. He looked at me and said, ‘You should put your name in the hat’, and I was like, ‘No way, man.’ You have to be a certain type of personality to take on that role. It’s not just about the playing, it’s very much the personality, and Dime [late PANTERA guitarist ‘Dimebag’ Darrell Abbott] had a huge presence. Put it this way, nobody’s gonna flip off Zakk Wylde onstage. They very well might do that to me, but there’s just no way I would put myself in that situation.”

Pantera recently performed without Rex Brown on Sunday, December 11 at Knotfest Chile in Santiago. Filling in for him was Cattle Decapitation bassist Derek Engemann, who also plays with Pantera singer Philip Anselmo in both Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals and Scour.

Rex reportedly flew from Bogotá, Colombia, where Pantera performed at Knotfest Colombia on Friday (December 9), back home to the United States to quarantine, thereby missing the remainder of the Pantera shows in South America. The new Pantera lineup made its live debut on December 2 at Mexico’s Hell & Heaven Metal Fest and also performed on December 6 at Monterrey Metal Fest in Monterrey, Mexico.

It was first reported in July that Anselmo and Brown would unite with Wylde and Benante for a world tour under the Pantera banner. The band will headline a number of major festivals across North America and Europe and stage some of their own headline concerts. They will also support Metallica on a massive North American stadium tour in 2023 and 2024.