Rex Brown has talked about the shock of learning about the death of his Pantera bandmate Vinnie Paul.
Vinnie died suddenly in June last year at the age of 54 as the result of a heart condition – and Brown has spoken about the moment he received the call telling him the devastating news.
He tells Loudwire: “Vinnie was just an incredible drummer and I really miss the camaraderie of years past.
“It was just another phone call of, ‘Are you sitting down?,’ and I’m like, ‘Oh my god, who is it now?’ Never in a million years would I have thought it would be Vinnie. It’s just wild and it’s insane. It started coming through in some of my lyrics, and I had to step back a little bit.
“I had to reflect on it and it’s something you have to process. I learned the first time with Dime, and it took me years in therapy to get the fuck over.
“When those tragedies hit, you just pull your boots up as much as you can and you go. We just had a hell of a rhythm section, and it hasn’t been touched since. I don’t want to sound egotistical about it, but we were pretty fucking tight."
Brown also confirms in the interview that he’s quit Kill Devil Hill to focus on his solo career.
He says: It’s a very amicable split and everybody’s happy with the whole deal. It probably should have happened a year ago, but you never know. You’ve just got to keep things open. But I’m doing my thing and they’re doing theirs and it’s all cool.”
Brown reports that he’s currently working on an new album, adding: “It’s very introspective but at the same time it’s kind of dark. We haven’t finished it yet, but I’ve got so much stuff in the can, it’s just ridiculous.”
Metal Hammer are currently running a poll to find out the greatest Pantera song of all time.
