RIGOR MORTIS Singer Talks About Reunion, Hanging Out With PANTERA

Full in Bloom Music recently conducted an interview with original RIGOR MORTIS vocalist Bruce Corbitt. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

Full in Bloom Music: RIGOR MORTIS and PANTERA were both playing the club scene in Dallas around the same time. What are your memories of the early version of PANTERA. Did you ever play any gigs with them? What did you think of the band?

Bruce Corbitt: "I never went and watched PANTERA perform until I was out of RIGOR MORTIS in 1989. Back in those mid-'80s years RIGOR MORTIS and PANTERA were just on different paths musically. They weren't the PANTERA of the '90s that everyone knows and loves now. So no way could the two bands do a show together back in that period. They were still into their glam period and we thought they were just posers to be honest. We were all into the thrash scene and they weren't that heavy at that time. Of course I had heard of them for a couple of years before I ever joined RIGOR MORTIS. I always heard about Darrell and Vinnie's talent. Many people always told me that Darrell was the best guitarist in Dallas/Ft. Worth etc. Like I said, I still never had even seen them play or listened to those early albums. But in my area around Irving we all knew of Mike Scaccia and to us he was the best guitarist around in our minds. RIGOR MORTIS and PANTERA were always bands that people either loved or hated, especially around here back in those early days. But, the fans that both bands had were as loyal and devoted as they come. So naturally most PANTERA fans hated RIGOR MORTIS and most RIGOR MORTIS fans hated PANTERA. Once Phil Anselmo joined the band and moved to Dallas/Ft. Worth... he started coming to see some of our RIGOR MORTIS shows. He was into extreme metal bands and that sort of broke the gap between RIGOR MORTIS and PANTERA. I finally met Darrell and he was just a cool dude and it was just impossible not to like him... even though the fans of both bands had turned it into sort of a rivalry between RIGOR MORTIS and PANTERA.

"When I got fired from RIGOR MORTIS in 1989... I talked on the phone with Phil a lot that first night. He could tell I was in shock and hurt about it all and he tried to support me that night... which I will never forget. One thing I will always remember that he told me that night to try and cheer me up. He said PANTERA had been talking a few nights before about certain people in bands that give a band this certain look that can't be replaced. He told me that Darrell had said that Bruce Corbitt of RIGOR MORTIS was one of those people. Then Phil invited me out to see PANTERA play at the Basement not long after that. I mean the very instant I walked in the club Darrell was the first one to come up to me and made me feel welcome. So that was really the first time I ever watched them jam. Of course I noticed the talent and gained a lot more respect for them after that night.

"I sometimes wish now that we could have lasted long enough to do some shows with them once they got heavier. I realized there is never a rivalry unless there is respect to begin with. Nothing ever was personal and we all got along whenever we were around each other. Mike was even on tour with MINISTRY last year and they ended up running into DAMAGEPLAN during their tour in some city. This was only a couple of nights before the tragedy happened. Mike told me that he and Darrell talked about actually getting together and jamming for fun after their tours were over. Man, I can only imagine what that would have been like now."

Full in Bloom Music: How did the reunion come about and why in the hell did it take so long?

Bruce Corbitt: "The reunion was the last thing I ever expected and I never thought it would really happen. It had been talked about a few times over the years. But, after so many years I didn't think I would even be part of it if it ever did happen.

"Anyway, Casey started a RIGOR MORTIS fan group a few months back on MySpace. He sent me an invite and I read where he posted that he had been talking to Mike and Harden about possibly doing some RIGOR MORTIS shows in October. So I sent him a message and just told him that we should stay on good terms if the reunion happened and if I wasn't part of it. I mentioned that I would even help them promote it. He replied back and said they wanted me to get up and sing a couple of songs at the Dallas and maybe the Ft. Worth show. I thought that would be cool and so I agreed.

"About a week later I talked to Scaccia on the phone and he brought up the RIGOR reunion. He said they now wanted me to sing more than a couple of songs and asked if I would sing a lot of the songs from the first album. He also said they were going to do some other Texas shows and he said I was welcome to come along. So everything just took off naturally and it turned into a full-blown reunion.

"I don't know what it is... and in no way am I saying it has anything to do with me. But, when the four of us announce that this is going to be the lineup for RIGOR MORTIS, good things just start happening for us and falling into place. That is what happened when we had this lineup back then and like deja vu it is starting to happen for us again. I don't really know why it took so long to happen. I am just happy we are all still alive right now for it to even be possible."

Read the entire interview at www.fullinbloommusic.com.