Dimebag Declared His Intentions to Reunite Pantera Just a Month Before His Death

In a new interview with the Landry.audio podcast, Daryl “Bobby Tongs” Arnberger, longtime videographer for both Pantera and Damageplan, claims that Dimebag Darrell told him he was going to do “whatever it takes” to reunite Pantera… just a month before his death:

“The last time I saw [Dimebag] was in November of 2004… I went over to his house. I was just talking to him briefly about everything. He was, like, ‘We’re gonna go out and do this [Damageplan] tour through December, and I’ll see you for Christmas and everything. After that, we’re gonna have some new shit going on. And it’s not gonna be this. Whatever it takes, we’re gonna get these guys back together and do it right.’

“He was saying he was gonna do everything he could. He was pretty much done with what they [Damageplan] were doing at that point. He wanted to move on and go back to Pantera.”

Arnberger continued:

“He didn’t think the other guys [in Damageplan] were as into it. He obviously didn’t feel the magic as much as he did with the other two guys [Phil Anslemo and Rex Brown].”

Dimebag, of course, was shot and killed during a Damageplan show at Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio, on December 8, 2004. His brother, Vinnie Paul — who died in June of 2018 — was also a member of Damageplan. We can only wonder what might have been had the Abbott brothers ever managed to patch things up with their former Pantera bandmates.

[via Metal Hammer]