AVENGED SEVENFOLD Singer Says ZAKK WYLDE Would Be 'Perfect Fit' For PANTERA Reunion Tour

AVENGED SEVENFOLD frontman Matt Sanders (a.k.a. M. Shadows) says that Zakk Wylde would be the "perfect fit" as the guitarist for the upcoming PANTERA reunion tour.

The 40-year-old Sanders made his comments one day after Billboard reported that singer Philip Anselmo and bassist Rex Brown have signed with Artist Group International to book the PANTERA North American dates. However, there has been no official word yet as to who will step in for guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, who was killed in 2004, and his brother, drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott, who passed away in 2018.

Earlier today (Thursday, July 14),Matt took to his Twitter to write: "Irregardless of our personal feelings, it seems that this @Pantera reunion reminds us that life is fragile and short. We live in an era where Phil and Rex can still go out there and perform the songs and soon that time will pass too. Enjoy it while you can. Looking forward."

When one of Matt's followers pointed out that there are rumors that Zakk will stand in for Dimebag, Sanders responded: "I hope so… perfect fit and a friend for Dime. What a great tribute."

As previously reported, Wylde and ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante are rumored to be the musicians who will join PANTERA's surviving members on the 2023 tour.

Back in 2006, AVENGED SEVENFOLD recorded a cover version of PANTERA's "Walk" for a special disc called "High Voltage", which was given away with the 25th-anniversary issue of U.K.'s Kerrang! magazine.

Sanders later told Blender.com about his band's rendition of "Walk": "Kerrang! magazine came to us and they asked if we wanted to cover one of our favorite bands' classic songs. [And we went], 'Well, we know 'Walk'. Can we do that?' So we had Terry Date [PANTERA producer] record it for us and Vinnie Paul give us his blessings on it, so we went and did it. And from then on, we kind of like… you know, playing festivals in Europe with METALLICA and stuff, it kind of brings back…

"Dime, to us, was one of the greatest guitar players ever to live, and to us, it's like a tribute to him," he explained. "It kind of lets his spirit live on at Ozzfest.

"PANTERA was, for a few years, tearing it up at Ozzfest, you know, and now they're not a band anymore, and I think… To us, it's a song we can play, we know we do it well, and we're just going out there and letting the spirit live on a little bit."

Up until his passing, Vinnie remained on non-speaking terms with Anselmo, whom the drummer indirectly blamed for Dimebag's death.

Vinnie Paul and Dimebag co-founded PANTERA. When PANTERA broke up in 2003, they formed DAMAGEPLAN. On December 8, 2004, while performing with DAMAGEPLAN at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio, Dimebag was shot and killed onstage by a troubled schizophrenic who believed that the members of PANTERA were stealing his thoughts.