EX-PANTERA VINNIE PAUL BACK INTO ROCK AND ROLL SPIRIT

(VIDEO) After the murder of Dimebag Darrell, Damageplan and Pantera partner Vinnie Paul lost his apetite for music. Paul says he’s got his fire back…here!

Former Pantera and Damageplan drummer Vinnie Paul lost the fire to play over a year-and-a-half ago when his brother Dimebag Darrell was shot dead during a show. The event has left a permanent emotional scar with Paul, and he had previously said that all his desire to play had gone.

It turns out that although Paul lost a part of him the night of the shooting, it was Van Halen’s Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony, that made him realize how much he loved music.

“I totally got the fire to play, man. I went down to Cabo last year around October for Sammy Hagar’s birthday. He invited me down and I played with Sammy and Michael [Anthony] for a week down there, half of Van Halen, which is one of my favorite bands ever, and it really helped me to realize how much I missed the drums.”

Vinnie Paul also told us that he’s got a new band, and he shared with us the details that he was allowed to, legally.

“…and I’ve got a new band. I can’t tell you about it, but the record’s done. It’ll be out in February, and you’ll be one of the first to hear it. We’ve just got to get a lot of the legal loose ends tied up, but it is badass and I’m really excited about it. It’s heavy of course, it’s in the vein of everything I’ve ever been a part of. But as far as being able to speculate on it any further I’m just going to have to wait.”

Vinnie Paul Abbott formed Pantera with brother Dimebag Darrell Abbott back in 1983, but the first album by the band featuring Phil Anselmo didn’t hit stores until 1988.