Former Pantera frontman Phil Anselmo opened up about the continued rift between him and his old bandmate Vinnie Paul Abbott in a new interview with Revolver Magazine."I feel bad for Vince," Anselmo said in the interview according to a Blabbermouth excert). "People should pity the guy. I wasn't there when Dimebag [Darrell] was murdered, but he sure as f— was. That's his flesh and blood, murdered right in front of him. It's a shame that Vince never reached out to [bassist] Rex [Brown] and I. I think the healing process would have been beneficial to him, instead of his knee-jerk reaction to fear and his therapy through tit bars and whiskey."
Anselmo also believes that he and Dimebag would have mended their relationship if the famed guitarist hadn't been murdered. "We would have made amends. I would like to think he would be proud of me for pulling myself out of the muck, the abyss," Anselmo said.
"I just choose to remember the positive things. He was almost like the perfect counterpoint to me. We may have clashed to a certain extent, but we would always find a happy medium. It was a vital relationship that I miss greatly."
He also discussed the breakup of Pantera. "One guy can't break up a band," says Anselmo. "You have to understand, it goes all four ways when a band breaks up. Yes, I made mistakes. Yes, there was a lack of communication on both sides and some of it is my fault — a lot of it is my fault."
