Should PHILIP ANSELMO And REX BROWN Tour Under The Name PANTERA? ACCEPT's WOLF HOFFMANN Weighs In

ACCEPT guitarist Wolf Hoffmann has weighed in on the news that PANTERA's surviving members Philip Anselmo (vocals) and Rex Brown (bass) will unite with guitarist Zakk Wylde (OZZY OSBOURNE, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY) and drummer Charlie Benante (ANTHRAX) for a world tour under the PANTERA banner.

Anselmo and Brown, along with Wylde and Benante, will headline a number of major festivals across North America and Europe and stage some of their own headline concerts.

According to Billboard, the lineup has been given a green light by the estates of the band's founders, drummer Vincent "Vinnie Paul" Abbott and guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, as well as Brown, who last year said Wylde wouldn't tour with PANTERA if a reunion were to happen. It's unclear what changed his mind.

Hoffmann, a 62-year-old German-born musician who currently splits his time between Florida and Nashville, discussed his views on the PANTERA comeback in a new interview with Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station. Asked what he thinks about Anselmo and Brown touring again under the PANTERA name, Wolf said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I don't know. Who am I to talk? I'm the last original guy in my band, so I shouldn't [talk]. I guess… It's a big world, and if they wanna do it that way, it's fine by me… What's the harm? It's just music, and if people like the music and like the concerts, is it really so important?"

He continued: "At the end of the day, it's all about the pull that the name has, I guess. If they were to call it something else, then maybe it would sell less tickets. So that's the motivating factor. I don't think anybody means any harm by anything. I think they're just doing it to sell more tickets and to get more publicity that way, and that's, I guess in a way legit."

Asked if he was a fan of Dimebag's playing, Wolf said: "No. I wasn't so much into that kind of… No."

Talk about a possible PANTERA "reunion" intensified when Anselmo regularly joined Wylde's BLACK LABEL SOCIETY to perform PANTERA's song "I'm Broken" during DOWN's 2014 stint on the "Revolver Golden Gods Tour". That buzz only got stronger after Brown joined the jam on May 23, 2014 when the tour swung through Texas.

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.