Rob Trujillo, the bassist for Metallica, recently spoke with St. Louis’ 105.7 the Point and offered his opinions on Zakk Wylde joining Pantera on stage. Wylde is now on the M72 World Tour. As part of Metallica’s current tour, Pantera has been playing as their supporting act. As a result, in response to a question concerning his experiences onstage with Wylde, given their similar background from the Black Label Society, Trujillo stated: I think it’s awesome to see Zakk up there. Up there playing with Rex [Brown], Charlie [Benante], and Phil [Anselmo]. It’s thrilling. They sound fantastic. Zakk has always had a deep love for music in general as well as his instrument. Touring with him was enjoyable, but my, such a handful. That guy was crazy. The bassist repeated what he had said to Zakk: “I tell him straight up that he’s insane. We had a terrific experience. It’s incredible to watch him perform tunes that both his brother and his guitar partner performed. Back then at Ozzfest, we shared that connection. Zakk is a truly wonderful person, and spending time with him again is a lot of pleasure. Many musicians in the rock and metal world have praised Wylde and Charlie Benante’s performances with Pantera since the band’s reformation last year.
Fans of Pantera have expressed disapproval on social media and drawn comparisons between his style and that of the late Dimebag Darrell. On his YouTube channel in July, Ola Englund addressed these remarks and discussed Zakk’s performance with the band. He said: “[From] my personal experience and all the tales I’ve heard about Dimebag, I get the impression that Zakk would want to approach this in the same way that he has. Zakk perfectly mimicking Dimebag to the letter, I believe would make him feel strange. No, I don’t believe that would have pleased him. He would be interested in seeing what Zakk is up to at the moment. In a September conversation with Rick Beato, Rex Brown also mentioned how impressed he was with Wylde and Benante’s performance since joining the band. In particular, he complimented Zakk for his outstanding performance in stepping in for Darrell, which was a challenging position to assume. The entire interview with Rob is available below.
