Charlie Benante is sick of being judged over his role in Pantera

Charlie Benante has hit back at disgruntled fans who continue to judge him and Zakk Wylde for their roles in the current Pantera lineup.

Anthrax drummer Benante and Black Label Society guitarist Wylde are touring with Pantera alongside surviving members Phil Anselmo and Rex Brown, in place of the late Abbott brothers Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul.

The “reunion” has been controversial from the start, though footage from the live shows suggests it has gone down well with audiences.

Now Benante has revealed that he’s never felt as judged at any point in his career as he has since joining Pantera.

He tells Knotfest.com: “I don’t think I’ve ever been so judged in my life by people. And I don’t understand. People can be really rotten. I don’t think they have the ears or the eyes that most people do, and they’re so judgmental about it.

“It’s like, man, let it go. You know what I mean? Don’t personally attack me or Zakk for something that you have inside of you.

“I’ve been doing this for over 40 years. Don’t fucking judge me. If I if I didn’t do my homework then fucking judge me. But I did my homework. And if something is off somewhere, is that the thing that you pick on?

“You don’t pick on the 95% of the other stuff where pretty much I tried to stay as accurate as possible?”

Scheduled Pantera shows in Germany and Austria have been cancelled following protests over Phil Anselmo’s white power outburst in 2016, which outraged the metal community.

Pantera 2023 live dates

May 26: Sofia Armeets Arena, Bulgaria
May 27: Bucharest, Metalhead Meeting Open Air Festival, Romania
May 30:  Budapest Barba Negra, Hungary
June 06: Lodz Atlas Arena, Poland
June 8-10: Rock Fest Hyvinkaa, Finland
June 10: Sweden Rock Festival, Sweden
June 12: Prague O2 Arena, Czech Republic
June 13: Berlin Verti Music Hall, Germany
June15: Copenhagen Copenhell, Denmark
June 21: Hamburg Edel Optics, Germany
Jun 22-24: Oslo Tons Of Rock, Norway
Aug 04, 2023: East Rutherford, NJ MetLife Stadium, USA +
Aug 11, 2023: Montreal Stade Olympique, CAN +
Aug 18, 2023: Arlington, TX AT&T Stadium, USA +
Aug 25, 2023: Inglewood, CA SoFi Stadium, USA +
Sep 01, 2023: Glendale, AZ State Farm Stadium, USA +
Nov 03, 2023: St. Louis, MO – The Dome at America’s Center, USA +
Nov 10, 2023: Detroit, MI Ford Field, USA +

* Headline show
# with Judas Priest
+ with Metallica

Pantera 2024 live dates

Aug 02, 2024: Foxborough, MA Gillette Stadium, USA +
Aug 09, 2024: Chicago, IL Soldier Field, USA +
Aug 16, 2024: Minneapolis US Bank Stadium, USA +
Aug 23. 2024: Edmonton Commonwealth Stadium, CAN  +
Aug 30, 2024: Seattle, WA Lumen Field, USA +

+ with Metallica

Source: loudersound.com