Mike Portnoy spoke about the importance of Black Panther
Mike Portnoy , drummer for Sons Of Apollo, The Winery Dogs , and former Dream Theater member , spoke to Metal Wani about Vinnie Paul , drummer for Pantera and Hellyeah , who died on June 22nd in Las Vegas at the age of 54.
“Vinnie was a friend of mine for a long time. We became friends around the time Pantera released Cowboys From Hell and Dream Theater Images And Words . Both bands signed with Atco at the same time, so we were dealing with the same people, and I became good friends not only with Vinnie but with all four of the band members.”
When Vinnie came on the scene, in terms of drumming, I think it was the perfect and necessary band in the metal world around '91, '92, because practically the 'Big Four' were eliminated by grunge. Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, Metallica , and then also Testament, Exodus , and Overkill , all those bands from the early '90s were killed by grunge. So Pantera was the only one really carrying metal in the '90s. I'd say they, Machine Head , and Sepultura – for me, those were the three that were doing it, but Pantera was the best of them.”
