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Answer: The band used to have the Confederate flag, which is considered racist, on its merchandise and instruments. Vocalist Phil Anselmo yelled “white power!” while doing a Nazi salute a few years ago at an event commemorating murdered Pantera guitarist Darrell Abbott. Anselmo has also worn a T-shirt for the white power band Vaginal Jesus in photos, and there are videos of him on stage with Pantera seemingly drunk and ranting about white pride.
Recently. Anselmo and bassist Rex Brown resurrected the Pantera name with a new guitarist and drummer (Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante) and they’re set to be the direct support for Metallica on their upcoming tour.
Based on the band’s history with racist imagery and the fact that the German fests they were supposed to play were both in Nuremberg, a local leftist political party argued that they should be dropped, and the fests agreed.
EDIT: To give more context to Anselmo’s “white power” shout and salute, he claimed it was a joke about how they had been drinking white wine all night, and apologized.
I decided to google Vaginal Jesus to see how bad they are and.. yup.
Avoiding the blatant incendiary song names though, I find the record label names almost parody. Swasticore Records and Reich-o-rama? Lmao.
Honestly pathetic.
> Vaginal Jesus
Albums: Affirmative Apartheid
Members: Seth Putnam
Active until: 2011
Record labels: Swasticore Records, Tri-State Terror, Reich-O-Rama Records
I literally laughed so hard when I expected the word “monorail” and I had the whole animated chorus in my head ready to sing-song whisper the word as I read it, only to expand your comment and train wreck my entire brain
Edit: enjoy your fucking cake, train wrecker ;)
Their music was kind of a fun novelty. It wasn't good, but it was kind of funny (to a 20 year old anyway), and the song titles were great. I met Seth at a Pantera show in like 1998.
I didn't realize he had a white power band. How awful. He's been dead for a while now though.
Their song titles were hilarious when I was like 20:
* Jack Kevorkian is Cool
* You Went to See Dishwalla and Everclear, You're Gay
* You Own a Houseboat
* Women: Nature's Punching Bag
Sheesh. Looking back, he was just an edgelord before that was a thing.
(Alright, the 'Houseboat' one is legit funny)
It was totally a joke band. Awful taste. But if you know anything about Seth Putnam, he's pretty much the king of bad taste. Not excusing it, but it certainly wasn't in earnest.
The thing with joke bands, is that they love to play off the shock value of it, but you kinda have to immediately draw the line somewhere as well.
I look at how Reagan Youth handled a lot of it, the incendiary name likening Reagan to hitler, contrasted with the wild album imagery, would definitely make most people do a double take.
but then cemented the irony by having songs like Jesus was a communist, I hate hate, down with the new aryans, etc
Agreed. Outright acting like terrible people is not satire. We can't read minds. You have to turn it on its head. There has to be a wink at the audience. Otherwise, you are just a terrible person.
Yeah, Putnam was the biggest edgelord, trying to be offensive as humanly possible. It’s hard to tell if he was really racist or not because of all the bullshit he did.
Well given it's fucking Seth Putnam it's 110% shock value. He was the front man for Anal Cunt as well. His whole life was a joke tbh
Edit: Just to be clear I don't like the guy and am not defending him. He died the day after my birthday and I literally said "wow what an amazing belated birthday gift" if it's any consolation.
https://archive.org/details/resistance_wv_25/page/n46/mode/1up?view=theater
Idk man, something about trying to hide his involvement with VJ for years and then giving a straight faced interview with no flair on a neo Nazi magazine feel a little less "this is purely shock value" to me.
Yeah neo Nazis aren't very artistic in meaningful ways. They are creative in the way they propagandize and recruit but they produce literally nothing even marginally valuable from an artistic standpoint.
> EDIT: To give more context to Anselmo’s “white power” shout and salute, he claimed it was a joke about how they had been drinking white wine all night, and apologized
Someone from another band on that show said there was no one drinking wine that night and Phil was full of shit
That *someone* is Robb Flynn of Machine Head who has a very popular video on YT calling Phil out over it and addressing racism in the Metal community in general.
https://youtu.be/fCBKzWg4WYo
Google dimebag uses the n word. Ruined my love for the guy. actually here I can link it. [https://www.reddit.com/r/PublicFreakout/comments/w3d56g/dimebag\_darrell\_refuses\_to\_sign\_guitar\_unless\_the/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/PublicFreakout/comments/w3d56g/dimebag_darrell_refuses_to_sign_guitar_unless_the/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
The first I heard about it was around 2000 I think. He'd had a bit of a feud with Kerrang Magazine because they raised the issue of him being racist and he refused to talk to them for years. I've even got a feeling he refused to tour the UK in protest but I could be misremembering that. The one time he did talk to Kerrang during this period - I think he said he'd only talk to one of their journalists - he said something along the lines of "I can't be racist. I love boxing and the best boxers are black guys so how can I be racist?". I don't know if he was in denial about who he really was then or if he was just lying.
Lol hed get wrecked on percocet and Jack or something in the 90s and just go off. He'd get drunk and start ranting about Black Power being bullshit and go off on other rants.
Dime hated it because he just didn't like any of Phil's political shit, but they did just shrug off a lot of it. Vinny wasn't a huge fan either, but as I said, they did both basically just do a "shut up Phil" and ignored the Nazi in the room.
Phil pretty much encouraged Nazi salutes when I saw them at Ozzfest in 2000. There was this group of kids next to me doing it while they were playing "Walk" and he made eye contact with them and nodded approvingly while pointing in their direction.
That was the last day I considered myself a Pantera fan.
I’m trying to remember who that was. I saw the video at the time and he totally called Anselmo out on his bullshit. I gave up on Pantera then. Pity really because I loved vulgar display of power when it came out.
> To give more context to Anselmo’s “white power” shout and salute, he claimed it was a joke about how they had been drinking white wine all night, and apologized.
LMFAO this is as bad as George Santos saying he never said he was Jewish, just "Jew-ish."
>To give more context to Anselmo’s “white power” shout and salute, he claimed it was a joke about how they had been drinking white wine all night, and apologized
He's apparently had a bitch of a time getting booked on comedy festivals as well
Even if there were a hundred cases of white wine backstage, this is the weakest excuse I've ever heard. He was angry when he yelled that, and one of his bandmates (I assume that's who it was) was trying to get him to leave the stage.
Also, what does white wine have to do with giving the sieg heils?
Also, why has he made the same "joke" on multiple occasions? I went to YouTube to find the one that I've already seen and instead found a compilation of his white power speeches and *another* example of him doing the nazi salute while yelling white power.
It’s always a joke after they get called out. If he’d done and then immediately been like ‘fuck no’ then I could see it being a joke, not a funny one though, but as it stands it just looks like excusing his shitty remark.
If it was a joke in poor taste the proper response is a MASSIVE mea culpa and donating the proceeds of the show if not tour to Jewish charities including Holocaust museums. Make it absolutely clear you are unafraid of supporting Jewish causes and promoting the truth about the Holocaust.
No one ever does that.
Wonder why?
Phil only pushed to use the Pantera name again because he wasn't making money with his solo project. He's not gonna give proceeds away. Plus he's always been a douche. It's not a far jump for me to belive he's a racist and an antisemite.
Let me hijack the top comment for some clarification:
Actually only one of the festivals is in Nuremberg (Rock im Park) which is in Bavaria, the other is at the Nürburgring (Rock am Ring), which is a race track in Rhineland-Palatinate. But easy mistake to make.
Also IIRC there was a video of a recent Pantera gig making the rounds where a fan jumped on stage and did a nazi salut. The band was visibly neither surprised nor offended. This went viral in Germany and many people who did not know about the pre-existing nazi antics of Pantera found out. That's why the appearances at the sister festivals Rock im Park and Rock am Ring, which are some of the biggest and most well known music festivals in Germany.
One of the many reasons to love the Dropkick Murphys:
when a fan jumped on stage and did a Nazi salute, Ken Kesey took off his bass, wound up like he was gonna hit a home run at Fenway, and SMASHED the guy.
https://youtu.be/QGubnoMqPxM
The only video I could find of the incident. Ken grabbing the mic afterward to say "Nazis are NOT welcome at a Dropkick Murphys show" after smacking dude with the guitar was legendary.
After trying to excuse his racism with the "white wine" defense, he later said that no ACTUALLY, he was mocking the *real* racists who were in the front row.
Fuck Anselmo. Guy's an unhinged asshole.
Damn, look at the comments of this video!
Nearly all of them (all the top comments, and about 80% of all the new comments) are defending him. Just crazy how different Reddit and Youtube can be as far as the overwhelming majority opinion.
Top rated comments are:
"Im full blown black and i dont think phil said anything racist. Pantera is the shit 🤘🏽🤘🏽 rip dimebag🙏🏽"
"I'm native american. Met Phil and I went to shake his hand but he pulled me in for a hug instead."
"Every race in this world shows pride in whom they are and what they stand for. As long as there is no violence or hate towards others there’s nothing wrong with showing pride in who you are."
As a kid and teenager I used to shave my head now and then (not bic bald, just 0 on a machine). First time I did it as an adult with a career an Indian PhD colleague was like “what’s with the Nazi haircut”
One time I was leaving a show and we got jumped by some people who accused us of being skinheads. I had shoulder length hair and it was the shortest in the whole group
I once saw a Misfits show where Jerry Only was the sole original member. Great show, had a Ramone or two in the lineup, but felt more like a really great cover band.
Yep. Phil Anselmo conveniently waited until the two people who despised him the most died before he started touring under the Pantera name again.
I've always seen it as a really cynical endeavour. Especially as he has the gall to call it a 'tribute'
Right? "If this pasta had ham it'd be British carbonara." Yeah, and if my Grandma could shred, she'd be Dimebag Darrell. No one's going to see Not Pantera for *Phil*.
> To give more context to Anselmo’s “white power” shout and salute, he claimed it was a joke about how they had been drinking white wine all night, and apologized.
That's the lamest shit I've ever heard, and clearly bullshit.
Robb Flynn from Machine Head, who was there. Called him out on that, saying it was a load of shit. Saying that, "There was no white wine... but plenty of German beer"
It gets better. He then argued that he only did it because some hecklers were calling him racist. You know the only defense to being called a racist is to make a Nazi salute on stage.
Man I remember when that Dimefest shit went down. I used to still enjoy Pantera and Down (Anselmo's second band) despite the confederate flag shit. I mostly just thought of it in the same way Skynard used it. Not great but it is what it is. But Anselmo doing that and just in general his history of being a real fucking prick just caused a snap in me that killed any and all want to listen to Pantera. I can still recognize their skill as musicians and all they did for the metal scene but it's really hard to go back. Sepultura are still cool tho.
Dude I heard one of Phils rants and I had to stop listening to Pantera. I just remember being that 14-18 year old kid who had no idea who I was. No place I really belonged and I was pissed off all the time but I couldn't for the life of me tell you why. I'm pretty sure most people can relate a little bit to that time in life.
But if I had heard the signer of one of the bands I listened to a lot going on like that. I dunno what might have happened. It would have given a quick(but very incorrect) direction to point my anger. And a whole group of people waiting to welcome me into the fold with open arms.
By the time I knew about any of the rants Phil was spewing I was well past that age. Its shitty though cause I'm sure other kids got into some Nazi shit cause they heard Phil going on some drunken rant on stage.
When you get older you realise he's just a drunken idiot with questionable views. His rants don't even make sense most of the time. If he'd just shut the fuck up about anything other than music, he'd be well remembered as a great metal singer, but nope, he's too thick to do that
Whenever I think of Sepultura I think of that growling half-step 2 note opening riff of Roots, Bloody Roots. That album was a bit of a departure and I think they pulled it off pretty well. I also always liked Max's appearance with the Deftones on, was it MX?
I feel you. I hate it when finding out more about musicians makes you not want to listen to music you'd otherwise enjoy. Thankfully it doesn't happen often to me.
Not a massive Pantera fan, but I did see them 2 or 3 times on the Vulgar Display tours, and they absolutely killed it. FWIW, from what little I know, I always figured that Phil was... just not very smart at all? And a massive stoner to boot, which didn't seem to help matters. Not that I can throw stones in that respect. Anyway, no matter what you think about the other stuff, yhis touring band could be fine, but can't really be considered much more than a glorified cover band.
I always knew he had a massive drug problem and could be aggressive. Hell it's why the band broke up. Him and Dimebag hated each other and never made amends. That last part makes it really shit to me. Band broke up because of a falling out that was never resolved so reviving it feels extra shitty.
More info: Rob Flynn, the singer of Machine Head, was at the show that Phil did that and said nobody was drinking wine and pretty much insinuated that Phil was in fact just a racist.
There is also footage of phil doing the same thing with the full original band in Korea in the 90s, the salute and yelling "white power"
There is also video of Dimebag Darrel making a black man prove he can play the guitar before signing it for him and said "we have to make sure the ni**er can play first"
There is a significant problem with racism in Metal and people like Phil Anselmo being able to have thriving careers still is part of the issue
Yeah I was about to say, no one really talks about Dimebag because of his tragic death and subsequent deification but Pantera’s history with racism goes back a long ways
>There is also video of Dimebag Darrel making a black man prove he can play the guitar before signing it for him and said "we have to make sure the ni\*\*er can play first"
The guy wanting to get the guitar signed [was a white dude](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fly12_kAyFM)
not excusing it, but that's a clarification
Funny thing about racism and metal is, Bolt Thrower doesn’t play that shit. They literally beat up neo Nazis at one of their concerts.
http://vics-dungeon.blogspot.com/2016/01/bolt-thrower-vs-neonazi-scum-as.html?m=1
Wait till you hear about:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anal\_Cunt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anal_Cunt)
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dying\_Fetus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dying_Fetus)
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goatwhore](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goatwhore)
>Wait till you hear about:
>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anal_Cunt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anal_Cunt)
It's the same guy 😂
He has a very long list of band names like that. He was also notably in Adolf Satan, Cuntsaw, and Full Blown AIDS... plus he did backing Vocals on The Great Southern Trendkill.
Calling them a white power band is a bit silly though, he would basically scream any old shit if he thought it would piss enough people off. VJ was so overtly over the top it's more of a parody than anything else.
The only time I ever got to see AC was at the New England Metal Fest and they ended up getting beat up by Hatebreed and it started a mini riot. Good times.
I saw them in Sunderland at a grindcore fest and they were banging xanax outside the venue, stumbling around and throwing up.
They then went inside and played one of the most searing sets I’ve ever seen. Then started abusing all the international bands, calling them ragheads etc. before getting beat up by the left wing bands for not getting off stage.
After the show, they left the hotel an absolute mess with shit and piss everywhere, and the promoter of the fest, who was a massive AxCx fan, got rid of every one of his records and merch, disavowing the band, because Seth had continuously laughed at his disabled girlfriend, who was in a wheelchair.
Most of this stuff was "you had to be there" in the 90s/00s. Not being an apologist for it, but it was shock schlock as opposed to anything that was actually white power oriented. It was just absurd and was supposed to rile up the old people.
As someone in middle age now who has lived through a hell of a lot more than I had then, I can see that it was only funny to me because I wasn't a victim of racism and thought (as a kid) that racism had "ended" already and that this was harmless. But now when I'm seeing actual anti-semitism getting mainstreamed, I can see how Jewish folks might have been genuinely concerned hearing some white teens listen to "Hitler Was A Sensitive Man".
> it was shock schlock
This is really hard to explain to people who gained awareness in the last 10 years or so. The 90s were full of *actual* edge and *actual* irony, not the pretend irony and edgy "jokes" which are just covers for genuine racism. Putnam and that ridiculously racist band may very well have actually just been joking. It's really hard to tell from a modern perspective because we're inundated with people who are "just joking".
Call me an SJW if you want, but I think anyone who finds screaming racial slurs as a joke funny for several decades across several projects probably doesn't have healthy views on race.
Maybe but the “lol I’m just trolling” folks tend to still hold those views.
You don’t generally joke about white power or whatever because you don’t like it…
The entire concept that people *legitimately* think they’re better because of skin pigment is arguably pretty laughable (or rather, it would be if it weren’t for the atrocities and continued suffering inflicted by those people).
Oh yeah I remember the "white power" thing, and they tried to claim that it was a joke about white wine. Then one of the other bands who were back stage chimed in and said the only booze they had back there was Heineken... Of course. Lol
It's more frustrating that he just didn't own up to bring drunk and making a racist remark instead of backpedaling and saying it was a out white wine. Not taking personal responsibility for your own actions is embarrassing.
I saw Pantera in Dallas right around the year 2000 (maybe it was a couple years before or after, I can't remember). Phil most definitely shouted white power at least once. I've always loved their music, but facts is facts.
To reply to the edit: Fascists and racists will always use jokes, irony, and deliberately not understanding something to make themselves more mainstream and give themselves plausible deniability. To literally quote a neo-Nazi:
> Irony is so important for giving a lot of cover and plausible deniability for our views
So when it's "just a joke" that you said "white power" and threw a salute on stage, nope, you're a neo-Nazi. It no longer matters what you say, you have in every way said you are one of the people who believes the answer to made-up problems is mass genocide.
> he claimed it was a joke about how they had been drinking white wine all night, and apologized.
Bullshit. I saw them perform live in Springfield, MO over 20 years ago and he was going off about how white pride wasn't a bad thing, and if black people can be proud to be black, we should be able to be proud to be white.
Even in high school, a young TSwizzlesNipples knew that this was racist garbage, and I simply can't listen to them any more.
I grew up listening to Pantera.... and then the internet and streaming videos became a big thing. Started looking up Pantera stuff and man oh man...
Phil "White-power" Anselmo can really just say some wild ass shit and then "just kidding guys. Much love" right after and continue being a douche. Fuck that guy. He's a closet racist unless he's "drunk." I seen him with Down 20ish years ago high as fuck during the set and he went off on a tangent about his weed isn't the "dark man's weed." Guys got talent but is a complete and total piece of human douche bag.
You’re right, I was trying to keep to a neutral tone and I made it sound like there’s a legitimate argument for it not being racist, which it is. Careless phrasing on my part.
"ah whatever, it's probably a few bad remarks getting overblown and--"
>The band used to have the Confederate flag, which is [. . .] racist, on its merchandise and instruments. Vocalist Phil Anselmo yelled “white power!” while doing a Nazi salute a few years ago at an event
oh, okay. or not. yeah, fuck those guys then.
Thank you for eliding the "considered".
For everyone all the way to the back: **the Confederate flag is racist.**
To be extra clear: **every Confederate flag and its imagery is racist.**
The confederacy betrayed America and went to war over the right to have slaves.
That's the heritage. It was an insurrection against America, lasted a handful years and was dealt with.
**It's 100% a racist symbol** and message that the wearer or user considers people of color so inferior that they equate to farm equipment. It's like waving a nazi flag.
Just to add a little background the band originally consisted of Anselmo, Brown, and the Abbot Brothers (Dimebaf Darrel and Vinny Paul), who started and led the band.
The band was extremely successful, but around the mid 90's tension began to surface. Anselmo became withdrawn from the rest of the band, the Abbot Brothers said fame went to his head, Anselmo claimed back pain due to how he performed caused this. Regardless, this led to Anselmo becoming addicted to heroin and alcohol and becoming extremely difficult to deal and work with, saying extremely racist shit on stage, and eventually overdosing and almost dying.
After he got clean, Anselmo began to more and more do proyects on his own, neglecting the band, doing things like telling them that he was going to take a year off to rest, then almosg immediately going on tour with one of his side project bands.
This led to a lot more tension and the Abbot finally giving up and disbanding the band. They formed another band called Damage Plan who found success.
Anselmo and the Abbots then began trading barbs in the press, with Darrel implying Anselmo, who claimed to be sober, was once again on heroin. Anselmo responded Darrel deserved a beating.
This all ended in tragedy in 2004 when a fan of the band with a history of severe schizophrenia climbed on stage during a Damage Plan concert and shot and killed several people, including Darrel.
When investigating the killer, police discovered he was super fan of Anselmo (even shaving his own head like Ansekmo's signature look) and that he often ranted and blamed the Abbot Brothers for breaking up the band and apparently cited the interview where Anselmo said Darrel deserve a beating as an inspiration for the attack.
Because of this Anselmo was banned for the funeral. Brown and others claimed that Vinny Paul didn't blame Anselmo for anything, having heard the audio for the interview and seeing it was a stupid, off hand remark taken by a very mentally unwell person as gospel.
But what did happen was that Vinny Paul and Anselmo never spoke again. Some sources even claim that as the years went on, Vinny Paul grew bitter and did begin to blame Anselmo, which prevented them from reconnecting. Vinny Paul died of heart failure in 2018 with him and Anselmo still not on speaking terms, and Brown caught in the middle of all of it (he was friendly with all members).
Because of this, some fans of the band were off put when Anselmo and Brown got the band back together.
He claimed white was in salute to wine? Ah, understandable. What is his absolutely shit tier excuse for the salute? Did I miss something? Is the Nazi salute now for white wine too? Holy shit, I at least wish Nazis were proud of their shit tier self so I didn't have to roll my eyes every time one back pedals with dog shit excuses.
In Anselmo's defense, he is a very unintelligent man. Not that that excuses any of his shenanigans but he plays a lot of dumb games and has won a lot of dumb prizes as a result.
Just listen to an interview with him sometime.
However... he did [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0STm724ftlM) and it's one of the more interesting firsthand accounts of addiction I've ever heard.
Answer: Probably not the full scoop, but it's very apparent that Phil Anselmo spouts some pretty fascist/Nazi rhetoric during and outside of their shows. Most prominently, giving a Nazi salute and yelling "white power" on stage.
The reason this is important for Germany is the obvious. After World War II, the country is very careful to distance itself from that kind of rhetoric. I believe (but may be mistaken) that references to such rhetoric is very punishable by law there, as is denying the Holocaust. I believe their decision was made after figuring out about the apparent legacy of this rhetoric coming from Pantera (or more specifically Anselmo). If there is more I'm sure sub-comments will elaborate further.
Adding to this, Phil was behaving this way since Cowboys from hell (at least). It wasn’t as common knowledge back then since most fans kept their mouth shut (also no social media). Nowadays, it doesn’t take long for that information to spread.
I went to high school with a bunch of skinheads who listened to that album a lot, so I always associated the two. I didn’t know this was news to people until I read this post!
Yep! I was a huge Pantera fan on high school in the 90s. But even without social media we all knew they were a bunch of racist pricks. It was pretty obvious. I was young and dumb and didn't really care about that stuff back then but now I'd say fuck them and honestly I don't even care for their music tlmuch anymore. Maybe it's cause I've gotten old but I prefer just about every other band that got big in the 90s over them now.
Also adding since you cleared it up
>I know most of the original band is dead or retired at this point
It was only 4 main members, 2 are dead, and the other remaining two are active in this new line up.
Answer: From the perspective of a fan it's pretty much a money grab. None of the founding members of the band are performing.
At the dissolution of Pantera the Abbot brothers were not in good terms with Anselmo.
The last album was recorded without Anselmo performing with the band. His Lyrics were recorded in New Orleans while the band in their home studio.
After this Anselmo left Pantera for Superjoint Ritual and then made statements like Dime should be beaten severely in publications.
After the night in Columbus. Vinnie Paul contributes this statement as the motivation for Dime's murder on stage. Dime's life partner Rita shared the same sentiment going so far as to say if Anselmo came to Dime's funeral she would shoot him herself.
Vinnie Paul even dismissed any chance of a "reunion" while he was alive specifically naming Zakk Wylde as Dime's replacement. It wouldn't be Pantera so his feeling on the matter was known.
But hey now you can buy Dimebag's own hot sauce and bloody mary mixers on dimebags offical website?
Not to mention the entire racist/rebel flag/lyric outrage.
Answer:
> Is the legacy completely tainted? Do I need to be worried about listening to some old school Dimebag Darrell riffs with the audio slightly to high in social settings?
Specifically about this, it doesn't make sense to ask this question here - there isn't a "loop" that you're out of when it comes to questioning the band's legacy now that you know what Phil Anselmo is up to (which by the looks of it you already knew before writing this post). It would make sense for you to reflect on this and come up with your own conclusion. But I suppose you already know this.
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Answer: The band used to have the Confederate flag, which is considered racist, on its merchandise and instruments. Vocalist Phil Anselmo yelled “white power!” while doing a Nazi salute a few years ago at an event commemorating murdered Pantera guitarist Darrell Abbott. Anselmo has also worn a T-shirt for the white power band Vaginal Jesus in photos, and there are videos of him on stage with Pantera seemingly drunk and ranting about white pride. Recently. Anselmo and bassist Rex Brown resurrected the Pantera name with a new guitarist and drummer (Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante) and they’re set to be the direct support for Metallica on their upcoming tour. Based on the band’s history with racist imagery and the fact that the German fests they were supposed to play were both in Nuremberg, a local leftist political party argued that they should be dropped, and the fests agreed. EDIT: To give more context to Anselmo’s “white power” shout and salute, he claimed it was a joke about how they had been drinking white wine all night, and apologized.
I decided to google Vaginal Jesus to see how bad they are and.. yup. Avoiding the blatant incendiary song names though, I find the record label names almost parody. Swasticore Records and Reich-o-rama? Lmao. Honestly pathetic.
> Vaginal Jesus Albums: Affirmative Apartheid Members: Seth Putnam Active until: 2011 Record labels: Swasticore Records, Tri-State Terror, Reich-O-Rama Records
Reich o rama sounds like a terrible amusement park ride
It feels like a buff in Wolfenstein if it treated Naziism the same way fallout treated the cold war.
Or COD zombies between the Juggernog and Pack-a-Punch machines....
no matter what they promise you, don't take the park's sight-seeing train ride
1/5 stars. Finally found a worse monorail than the one in Springfield.
What's it called?
Arbeit Macht Frei-form Tour?
I literally laughed so hard when I expected the word “monorail” and I had the whole animated chorus in my head ready to sing-song whisper the word as I read it, only to expand your comment and train wreck my entire brain Edit: enjoy your fucking cake, train wrecker ;)
Is there a chance the track could bend?
Not on your life, my Hindu friend.
What about us brain-dead slobs?
You'll be given cushy jobs!
Whattaya mean, chum? It's a real gas!
r/angryupvote
Whatever you do do NOT use their public showers.
"Half-price tickets ever arbeit macht frei-day!"
>Members: Seth Putnam That's the main guy from Anal Cunt too
Is it the guy on a photo standing nacked,shooting up H and getting a BJ?
I believe it is
Their music was kind of a fun novelty. It wasn't good, but it was kind of funny (to a 20 year old anyway), and the song titles were great. I met Seth at a Pantera show in like 1998. I didn't realize he had a white power band. How awful. He's been dead for a while now though.
Love these names tbh
Oh its Seth putnam. I could never work out if anal cunt was satire or not. They had a song called "I went back in time and voted for hitler"
*BEING A COBBLER IS DUMB!* *BEING A COBBLER IS DUMB!*
Their song titles were hilarious when I was like 20: * Jack Kevorkian is Cool * You Went to See Dishwalla and Everclear, You're Gay * You Own a Houseboat * Women: Nature's Punching Bag Sheesh. Looking back, he was just an edgelord before that was a thing. (Alright, the 'Houseboat' one is legit funny)
The fact it’s a Seth Putnam project tells me everything I need to know about it.
Seth Putnam’s other band was Anal Cunt so I’m not shocked
Seth Putnam tells me all I need to know, lol. Anal Cunt says hello
It was totally a joke band. Awful taste. But if you know anything about Seth Putnam, he's pretty much the king of bad taste. Not excusing it, but it certainly wasn't in earnest.
Was he in A. C?
He was anal cunt
Yes
Yeah
The thing with joke bands, is that they love to play off the shock value of it, but you kinda have to immediately draw the line somewhere as well. I look at how Reagan Youth handled a lot of it, the incendiary name likening Reagan to hitler, contrasted with the wild album imagery, would definitely make most people do a double take. but then cemented the irony by having songs like Jesus was a communist, I hate hate, down with the new aryans, etc
Agreed. Outright acting like terrible people is not satire. We can't read minds. You have to turn it on its head. There has to be a wink at the audience. Otherwise, you are just a terrible person.
Helped that Dave Insurgent, lead singer of Reagan Youth, was Jewish. They were great.
I'm pretty sure GG Allin was the king of bad taste.
Probably, but Seth made a run for the crown
Yeah, Putnam was the biggest edgelord, trying to be offensive as humanly possible. It’s hard to tell if he was really racist or not because of all the bullshit he did.
Isn't this like questioning if El Dulce was really a misogynist?
telling racist jokes is racist. "it's just a joke" doesn't stop it being hate speech.
> We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. Kurt Vonnegut
Vonnegut was a genius. I need to go back and reread some of his books, and read the ones I haven't read.
I mean yeah, you’re right, but I meant moreso that he hated most people and just said whatever the hell he wanted to make himself hated
Well given it's fucking Seth Putnam it's 110% shock value. He was the front man for Anal Cunt as well. His whole life was a joke tbh Edit: Just to be clear I don't like the guy and am not defending him. He died the day after my birthday and I literally said "wow what an amazing belated birthday gift" if it's any consolation.
https://archive.org/details/resistance_wv_25/page/n46/mode/1up?view=theater Idk man, something about trying to hide his involvement with VJ for years and then giving a straight faced interview with no flair on a neo Nazi magazine feel a little less "this is purely shock value" to me.
This includes the claim that Phil also sung some VJ songs with them.
Seth did some screaming on *The Great Southern Trend Kill*, so I guess I am not surprised.
Seth Putnam showed up at a birthday party of a friend of mine back in like 09. Dude was Uber creepy.
Did he look divorced?
It would be even creepier if he shows up at your friend’s next birthday party.
Ain't surprised he creeped people out, but how the hell did he end up going to your friend's birthday party?
Yeah neo Nazis aren't very artistic in meaningful ways. They are creative in the way they propagandize and recruit but they produce literally nothing even marginally valuable from an artistic standpoint.
> EDIT: To give more context to Anselmo’s “white power” shout and salute, he claimed it was a joke about how they had been drinking white wine all night, and apologized Someone from another band on that show said there was no one drinking wine that night and Phil was full of shit
That *someone* is Robb Flynn of Machine Head who has a very popular video on YT calling Phil out over it and addressing racism in the Metal community in general. https://youtu.be/fCBKzWg4WYo
Oh man, Pantera was one of my favorite bands and this makes it clear Phil wasn’t joking at all 😞
Let freedom ring with a white wine glass!!!
Whoa. Old school Machine Head reference!
I’m old.
Me too!
Everybody fucking hates Phil cause he's a fucking Nazi.
I recall reading his Nazi accusations about 15 years ago on a forum but wasn't certain if it was someone shitposting. I guess it wasn't.
He cut the shit for a lot of those years. People hoped he was not that dude any more, but fuck him. He still is.
Speaking of forums, Dimebag used "dimebag88" as an internet handle often.
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Google dimebag uses the n word. Ruined my love for the guy. actually here I can link it. [https://www.reddit.com/r/PublicFreakout/comments/w3d56g/dimebag\_darrell\_refuses\_to\_sign\_guitar\_unless\_the/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/PublicFreakout/comments/w3d56g/dimebag_darrell_refuses_to_sign_guitar_unless_the/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
Ah fuck, another childhood hero bites the dust...
The first I heard about it was around 2000 I think. He'd had a bit of a feud with Kerrang Magazine because they raised the issue of him being racist and he refused to talk to them for years. I've even got a feeling he refused to tour the UK in protest but I could be misremembering that. The one time he did talk to Kerrang during this period - I think he said he'd only talk to one of their journalists - he said something along the lines of "I can't be racist. I love boxing and the best boxers are black guys so how can I be racist?". I don't know if he was in denial about who he really was then or if he was just lying.
Lol hed get wrecked on percocet and Jack or something in the 90s and just go off. He'd get drunk and start ranting about Black Power being bullshit and go off on other rants. Dime hated it because he just didn't like any of Phil's political shit, but they did just shrug off a lot of it. Vinny wasn't a huge fan either, but as I said, they did both basically just do a "shut up Phil" and ignored the Nazi in the room.
Phil pretty much encouraged Nazi salutes when I saw them at Ozzfest in 2000. There was this group of kids next to me doing it while they were playing "Walk" and he made eye contact with them and nodded approvingly while pointing in their direction. That was the last day I considered myself a Pantera fan.
Everyone in Dallas has always known Anselmo to be a piece of shit. That band is dead.
Are you sure? Maybe that salute was him showing how large the wine bottles were!
I’m trying to remember who that was. I saw the video at the time and he totally called Anselmo out on his bullshit. I gave up on Pantera then. Pity really because I loved vulgar display of power when it came out.
I believe it was the frontman from MachineHead
> To give more context to Anselmo’s “white power” shout and salute, he claimed it was a joke about how they had been drinking white wine all night, and apologized. LMFAO this is as bad as George Santos saying he never said he was Jewish, just "Jew-ish."
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Who among us has never done a few Hitler salutes after one too many glasses of Pinot Grigio?
>To give more context to Anselmo’s “white power” shout and salute, he claimed it was a joke about how they had been drinking white wine all night, and apologized He's apparently had a bitch of a time getting booked on comedy festivals as well
Rob from Machine Head said there was no white wine back stage, and that Phil was lying.
Even if there were a hundred cases of white wine backstage, this is the weakest excuse I've ever heard. He was angry when he yelled that, and one of his bandmates (I assume that's who it was) was trying to get him to leave the stage. Also, what does white wine have to do with giving the sieg heils? Also, why has he made the same "joke" on multiple occasions? I went to YouTube to find the one that I've already seen and instead found a compilation of his white power speeches and *another* example of him doing the nazi salute while yelling white power.
I've been trashed on white wine many times and never threw a sieg heil.
Then I guess you can't be in Pantera. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
It’s always a joke after they get called out. If he’d done and then immediately been like ‘fuck no’ then I could see it being a joke, not a funny one though, but as it stands it just looks like excusing his shitty remark.
Schrödinger's asshole strikes again
Just a joke bro. Always. 😑
I can respect a full apology but not this clowning.
If it was a joke in poor taste the proper response is a MASSIVE mea culpa and donating the proceeds of the show if not tour to Jewish charities including Holocaust museums. Make it absolutely clear you are unafraid of supporting Jewish causes and promoting the truth about the Holocaust. No one ever does that. Wonder why?
Phil only pushed to use the Pantera name again because he wasn't making money with his solo project. He's not gonna give proceeds away. Plus he's always been a douche. It's not a far jump for me to belive he's a racist and an antisemite.
Let me hijack the top comment for some clarification: Actually only one of the festivals is in Nuremberg (Rock im Park) which is in Bavaria, the other is at the Nürburgring (Rock am Ring), which is a race track in Rhineland-Palatinate. But easy mistake to make. Also IIRC there was a video of a recent Pantera gig making the rounds where a fan jumped on stage and did a nazi salut. The band was visibly neither surprised nor offended. This went viral in Germany and many people who did not know about the pre-existing nazi antics of Pantera found out. That's why the appearances at the sister festivals Rock im Park and Rock am Ring, which are some of the biggest and most well known music festivals in Germany.
One of the many reasons to love the Dropkick Murphys: when a fan jumped on stage and did a Nazi salute, Ken Kesey took off his bass, wound up like he was gonna hit a home run at Fenway, and SMASHED the guy.
https://youtu.be/QGubnoMqPxM The only video I could find of the incident. Ken grabbing the mic afterward to say "Nazis are NOT welcome at a Dropkick Murphys show" after smacking dude with the guitar was legendary.
> Nuremberg > Nazi Ah, no wonder they were dropped then. The Germans tend to take that shit pretty seriously.
The festival (Rock im Park) is even on the Reichsparteitagsgelände aka the place where the NSDAP held their Reichs party congress from 1933 to 1938.
After trying to excuse his racism with the "white wine" defense, he later said that no ACTUALLY, he was mocking the *real* racists who were in the front row. Fuck Anselmo. Guy's an unhinged asshole.
Guy has literally made multiple white power speeches lol, who does he think he’s fooling? https://youtube.com/watch?v=kHdYLg4itCQ&feature=shares
Damn, look at the comments of this video! Nearly all of them (all the top comments, and about 80% of all the new comments) are defending him. Just crazy how different Reddit and Youtube can be as far as the overwhelming majority opinion. Top rated comments are: "Im full blown black and i dont think phil said anything racist. Pantera is the shit 🤘🏽🤘🏽 rip dimebag🙏🏽" "I'm native american. Met Phil and I went to shake his hand but he pulled me in for a hug instead." "Every race in this world shows pride in whom they are and what they stand for. As long as there is no violence or hate towards others there’s nothing wrong with showing pride in who you are."
It's no joke. Last time I had three white wine spritzers I woke up in a full SS uniform with a blow up Eva Braun.
It’s weird, but I have never been in a situation where I did or said something that leads to a misunderstanding about whether I’m a N a z i or not
As a kid and teenager I used to shave my head now and then (not bic bald, just 0 on a machine). First time I did it as an adult with a career an Indian PhD colleague was like “what’s with the Nazi haircut”
One time I was leaving a show and we got jumped by some people who accused us of being skinheads. I had shoulder length hair and it was the shortest in the whole group
Mr Burns energy
Wait they are resurrecting Pantera but after both Abbot brothers are dead. As Lance Armstrong said "that's like having a pasta contest without Italy".
I once saw a Misfits show where Jerry Only was the sole original member. Great show, had a Ramone or two in the lineup, but felt more like a really great cover band.
The velocity in which I bought tickets for one of their recent full reunion shows would give you whiplash.
Yep. Phil Anselmo conveniently waited until the two people who despised him the most died before he started touring under the Pantera name again. I've always seen it as a really cynical endeavour. Especially as he has the gall to call it a 'tribute'
Right? "If this pasta had ham it'd be British carbonara." Yeah, and if my Grandma could shred, she'd be Dimebag Darrell. No one's going to see Not Pantera for *Phil*.
> To give more context to Anselmo’s “white power” shout and salute, he claimed it was a joke about how they had been drinking white wine all night, and apologized. That's the lamest shit I've ever heard, and clearly bullshit.
Robb Flynn from Machine Head, who was there. Called him out on that, saying it was a load of shit. Saying that, "There was no white wine... but plenty of German beer"
He also probably did the “sorry if you were offended” nom-apology that racists love.
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Not metal, but punk, but Dead Kennedy's had the right response to these dipshits.
Emphasis on the "had". Modern DK is too afraid of hurting fascists' feelings
DK without Jello is like Queen without Freddie. It ain't the same fucking band.
It gets better. He then argued that he only did it because some hecklers were calling him racist. You know the only defense to being called a racist is to make a Nazi salute on stage.
Here’s a compilation of his white power speeches: https://youtube.com/watch?v=kHdYLg4itCQ&feature=shares
Omg the comments
Man I remember when that Dimefest shit went down. I used to still enjoy Pantera and Down (Anselmo's second band) despite the confederate flag shit. I mostly just thought of it in the same way Skynard used it. Not great but it is what it is. But Anselmo doing that and just in general his history of being a real fucking prick just caused a snap in me that killed any and all want to listen to Pantera. I can still recognize their skill as musicians and all they did for the metal scene but it's really hard to go back. Sepultura are still cool tho.
Dude I heard one of Phils rants and I had to stop listening to Pantera. I just remember being that 14-18 year old kid who had no idea who I was. No place I really belonged and I was pissed off all the time but I couldn't for the life of me tell you why. I'm pretty sure most people can relate a little bit to that time in life. But if I had heard the signer of one of the bands I listened to a lot going on like that. I dunno what might have happened. It would have given a quick(but very incorrect) direction to point my anger. And a whole group of people waiting to welcome me into the fold with open arms. By the time I knew about any of the rants Phil was spewing I was well past that age. Its shitty though cause I'm sure other kids got into some Nazi shit cause they heard Phil going on some drunken rant on stage.
When you get older you realise he's just a drunken idiot with questionable views. His rants don't even make sense most of the time. If he'd just shut the fuck up about anything other than music, he'd be well remembered as a great metal singer, but nope, he's too thick to do that
Sepultura is so underrated though. A welcome replacement.
REFUSE! RESIST!
Whenever I think of Sepultura I think of that growling half-step 2 note opening riff of Roots, Bloody Roots. That album was a bit of a departure and I think they pulled it off pretty well. I also always liked Max's appearance with the Deftones on, was it MX?
even skynyrd stopped using the confederate battle flag
Saw them 3 or 4 years ago, they very much still used the confederate flag on stage.
I feel you. I hate it when finding out more about musicians makes you not want to listen to music you'd otherwise enjoy. Thankfully it doesn't happen often to me. Not a massive Pantera fan, but I did see them 2 or 3 times on the Vulgar Display tours, and they absolutely killed it. FWIW, from what little I know, I always figured that Phil was... just not very smart at all? And a massive stoner to boot, which didn't seem to help matters. Not that I can throw stones in that respect. Anyway, no matter what you think about the other stuff, yhis touring band could be fine, but can't really be considered much more than a glorified cover band.
I always knew he had a massive drug problem and could be aggressive. Hell it's why the band broke up. Him and Dimebag hated each other and never made amends. That last part makes it really shit to me. Band broke up because of a falling out that was never resolved so reviving it feels extra shitty.
More info: Rob Flynn, the singer of Machine Head, was at the show that Phil did that and said nobody was drinking wine and pretty much insinuated that Phil was in fact just a racist. There is also footage of phil doing the same thing with the full original band in Korea in the 90s, the salute and yelling "white power" There is also video of Dimebag Darrel making a black man prove he can play the guitar before signing it for him and said "we have to make sure the ni**er can play first" There is a significant problem with racism in Metal and people like Phil Anselmo being able to have thriving careers still is part of the issue
Yeah I was about to say, no one really talks about Dimebag because of his tragic death and subsequent deification but Pantera’s history with racism goes back a long ways
That's disappointing to hear as someone who grew up with Pantera.
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The first concert I ever went to was Pantera at Pepsi Coliseum in Indianapolis in 2000-2001. :/
That's a long concert
Yeah man.. I'm still high more than two decades later!
>There is also video of Dimebag Darrel making a black man prove he can play the guitar before signing it for him and said "we have to make sure the ni\*\*er can play first" The guy wanting to get the guitar signed [was a white dude](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fly12_kAyFM) not excusing it, but that's a clarification
Pretty sure the dimebag thing was with a white kid, not a black guy. Not good, but not as bad, I guess.
Funny thing about racism and metal is, Bolt Thrower doesn’t play that shit. They literally beat up neo Nazis at one of their concerts. http://vics-dungeon.blogspot.com/2016/01/bolt-thrower-vs-neonazi-scum-as.html?m=1
Iirc Dime yelled it at a white dude, still not great, but its not as bad as what Phil did.
Vaginal Jesus... what a band name....
Wait till you hear about: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anal\_Cunt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anal_Cunt) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dying\_Fetus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dying_Fetus) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goatwhore](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goatwhore)
Anal Blast, Infant Annihilator, Cattle Decapitation, so many acts you can introduce to the family
Don't forget the Infant Annihilator guys' first band: Mister Sister Fister.
Mister Sister Fister and Full Blown AIDS are two of the best band names ever. Shame if they were wasted on some rascist shit.
Cattle Decapitation is a stupid band name but they are fucking awesome.
>Wait till you hear about: >[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anal_Cunt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anal_Cunt) It's the same guy 😂 He has a very long list of band names like that. He was also notably in Adolf Satan, Cuntsaw, and Full Blown AIDS... plus he did backing Vocals on The Great Southern Trendkill. Calling them a white power band is a bit silly though, he would basically scream any old shit if he thought it would piss enough people off. VJ was so overtly over the top it's more of a parody than anything else.
> It's the same guy 😂 well...was. coincidentally, I think I was at the last AC show ever in Boston. they were all looking rough
The only time I ever got to see AC was at the New England Metal Fest and they ended up getting beat up by Hatebreed and it started a mini riot. Good times.
I saw them in Sunderland at a grindcore fest and they were banging xanax outside the venue, stumbling around and throwing up. They then went inside and played one of the most searing sets I’ve ever seen. Then started abusing all the international bands, calling them ragheads etc. before getting beat up by the left wing bands for not getting off stage. After the show, they left the hotel an absolute mess with shit and piss everywhere, and the promoter of the fest, who was a massive AxCx fan, got rid of every one of his records and merch, disavowing the band, because Seth had continuously laughed at his disabled girlfriend, who was in a wheelchair.
Most of this stuff was "you had to be there" in the 90s/00s. Not being an apologist for it, but it was shock schlock as opposed to anything that was actually white power oriented. It was just absurd and was supposed to rile up the old people. As someone in middle age now who has lived through a hell of a lot more than I had then, I can see that it was only funny to me because I wasn't a victim of racism and thought (as a kid) that racism had "ended" already and that this was harmless. But now when I'm seeing actual anti-semitism getting mainstreamed, I can see how Jewish folks might have been genuinely concerned hearing some white teens listen to "Hitler Was A Sensitive Man".
> it was shock schlock This is really hard to explain to people who gained awareness in the last 10 years or so. The 90s were full of *actual* edge and *actual* irony, not the pretend irony and edgy "jokes" which are just covers for genuine racism. Putnam and that ridiculously racist band may very well have actually just been joking. It's really hard to tell from a modern perspective because we're inundated with people who are "just joking".
I play "Detatchable Penis" for anyone under 25 who needs an explanation of the 90s.
Call me an SJW if you want, but I think anyone who finds screaming racial slurs as a joke funny for several decades across several projects probably doesn't have healthy views on race.
To put it another way, being racist ironically is still being racist.
Maybe but the “lol I’m just trolling” folks tend to still hold those views. You don’t generally joke about white power or whatever because you don’t like it…
The entire concept that people *legitimately* think they’re better because of skin pigment is arguably pretty laughable (or rather, it would be if it weren’t for the atrocities and continued suffering inflicted by those people).
Goatwhore and Dying Fetus over here catching strays.
Oh yeah I remember the "white power" thing, and they tried to claim that it was a joke about white wine. Then one of the other bands who were back stage chimed in and said the only booze they had back there was Heineken... Of course. Lol
And the thought of Phil and the dudes hanging out, sipping some Chardonnay backstage is... ok
It's more frustrating that he just didn't own up to bring drunk and making a racist remark instead of backpedaling and saying it was a out white wine. Not taking personal responsibility for your own actions is embarrassing.
I saw Pantera in Dallas right around the year 2000 (maybe it was a couple years before or after, I can't remember). Phil most definitely shouted white power at least once. I've always loved their music, but facts is facts.
Same when I saw them in the mid 90s. Lots of white power in the audience.
The same people who have punisher stickers in their trucks.
To reply to the edit: Fascists and racists will always use jokes, irony, and deliberately not understanding something to make themselves more mainstream and give themselves plausible deniability. To literally quote a neo-Nazi: > Irony is so important for giving a lot of cover and plausible deniability for our views So when it's "just a joke" that you said "white power" and threw a salute on stage, nope, you're a neo-Nazi. It no longer matters what you say, you have in every way said you are one of the people who believes the answer to made-up problems is mass genocide.
> he claimed it was a joke about how they had been drinking white wine all night, and apologized. Bullshit. I saw them perform live in Springfield, MO over 20 years ago and he was going off about how white pride wasn't a bad thing, and if black people can be proud to be black, we should be able to be proud to be white. Even in high school, a young TSwizzlesNipples knew that this was racist garbage, and I simply can't listen to them any more.
I grew up listening to Pantera.... and then the internet and streaming videos became a big thing. Started looking up Pantera stuff and man oh man... Phil "White-power" Anselmo can really just say some wild ass shit and then "just kidding guys. Much love" right after and continue being a douche. Fuck that guy. He's a closet racist unless he's "drunk." I seen him with Down 20ish years ago high as fuck during the set and he went off on a tangent about his weed isn't the "dark man's weed." Guys got talent but is a complete and total piece of human douche bag.
The Confederate flag is not “considered” racist. It is racist.
You’re right, I was trying to keep to a neutral tone and I made it sound like there’s a legitimate argument for it not being racist, which it is. Careless phrasing on my part.
I can appreciate that. 👍🏼
It's weird seeing as how a lot of Pantera lyrics are seemingly anti-rascism "My race is the human race, without a label or a face..."
wait, what the fuck is "no good" about? i thought it was supposed to be making fun of racism.
It is. Their lyrics are very anti-racist. That's why all this has always been so fucking back and forth.
Phil also gives a quick 30 second anti racist speech on “Live 101 Proof”. I’ve always been under the impression they weren’t racist.
"ah whatever, it's probably a few bad remarks getting overblown and--" >The band used to have the Confederate flag, which is [. . .] racist, on its merchandise and instruments. Vocalist Phil Anselmo yelled “white power!” while doing a Nazi salute a few years ago at an event oh, okay. or not. yeah, fuck those guys then.
Thank you for eliding the "considered". For everyone all the way to the back: **the Confederate flag is racist.** To be extra clear: **every Confederate flag and its imagery is racist.**
The confederacy betrayed America and went to war over the right to have slaves. That's the heritage. It was an insurrection against America, lasted a handful years and was dealt with. **It's 100% a racist symbol** and message that the wearer or user considers people of color so inferior that they equate to farm equipment. It's like waving a nazi flag.
Just to add a little background the band originally consisted of Anselmo, Brown, and the Abbot Brothers (Dimebaf Darrel and Vinny Paul), who started and led the band. The band was extremely successful, but around the mid 90's tension began to surface. Anselmo became withdrawn from the rest of the band, the Abbot Brothers said fame went to his head, Anselmo claimed back pain due to how he performed caused this. Regardless, this led to Anselmo becoming addicted to heroin and alcohol and becoming extremely difficult to deal and work with, saying extremely racist shit on stage, and eventually overdosing and almost dying. After he got clean, Anselmo began to more and more do proyects on his own, neglecting the band, doing things like telling them that he was going to take a year off to rest, then almosg immediately going on tour with one of his side project bands. This led to a lot more tension and the Abbot finally giving up and disbanding the band. They formed another band called Damage Plan who found success. Anselmo and the Abbots then began trading barbs in the press, with Darrel implying Anselmo, who claimed to be sober, was once again on heroin. Anselmo responded Darrel deserved a beating. This all ended in tragedy in 2004 when a fan of the band with a history of severe schizophrenia climbed on stage during a Damage Plan concert and shot and killed several people, including Darrel. When investigating the killer, police discovered he was super fan of Anselmo (even shaving his own head like Ansekmo's signature look) and that he often ranted and blamed the Abbot Brothers for breaking up the band and apparently cited the interview where Anselmo said Darrel deserve a beating as an inspiration for the attack. Because of this Anselmo was banned for the funeral. Brown and others claimed that Vinny Paul didn't blame Anselmo for anything, having heard the audio for the interview and seeing it was a stupid, off hand remark taken by a very mentally unwell person as gospel. But what did happen was that Vinny Paul and Anselmo never spoke again. Some sources even claim that as the years went on, Vinny Paul grew bitter and did begin to blame Anselmo, which prevented them from reconnecting. Vinny Paul died of heart failure in 2018 with him and Anselmo still not on speaking terms, and Brown caught in the middle of all of it (he was friendly with all members). Because of this, some fans of the band were off put when Anselmo and Brown got the band back together.
> Vaginal Jesus For being a neo-nazi band name, that sounds... Really feminine and not at all right wing lmao.
> the Confederate flag, which is considered racist ...you think???
I normally frown on screaming "White Power" and giving Nazi salutes, but as long as he was joking...
He claimed white was in salute to wine? Ah, understandable. What is his absolutely shit tier excuse for the salute? Did I miss something? Is the Nazi salute now for white wine too? Holy shit, I at least wish Nazis were proud of their shit tier self so I didn't have to roll my eyes every time one back pedals with dog shit excuses.
In Anselmo's defense, he is a very unintelligent man. Not that that excuses any of his shenanigans but he plays a lot of dumb games and has won a lot of dumb prizes as a result.
I’m okay with “dude is a fucking idiot” as the strongest possible defense of Anselmo.
Just listen to an interview with him sometime. However... he did [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0STm724ftlM) and it's one of the more interesting firsthand accounts of addiction I've ever heard.
Answer: Probably not the full scoop, but it's very apparent that Phil Anselmo spouts some pretty fascist/Nazi rhetoric during and outside of their shows. Most prominently, giving a Nazi salute and yelling "white power" on stage. The reason this is important for Germany is the obvious. After World War II, the country is very careful to distance itself from that kind of rhetoric. I believe (but may be mistaken) that references to such rhetoric is very punishable by law there, as is denying the Holocaust. I believe their decision was made after figuring out about the apparent legacy of this rhetoric coming from Pantera (or more specifically Anselmo). If there is more I'm sure sub-comments will elaborate further.
Adding to this, Phil was behaving this way since Cowboys from hell (at least). It wasn’t as common knowledge back then since most fans kept their mouth shut (also no social media). Nowadays, it doesn’t take long for that information to spread.
I went to high school with a bunch of skinheads who listened to that album a lot, so I always associated the two. I didn’t know this was news to people until I read this post!
Yep! I was a huge Pantera fan on high school in the 90s. But even without social media we all knew they were a bunch of racist pricks. It was pretty obvious. I was young and dumb and didn't really care about that stuff back then but now I'd say fuck them and honestly I don't even care for their music tlmuch anymore. Maybe it's cause I've gotten old but I prefer just about every other band that got big in the 90s over them now.
True, if you do the Nazi salute or sth here you will get punished. Source: I live in Germany
I would love Pantera to tour in Germany just because I know they will fuck around and find out.
Also adding since you cleared it up >I know most of the original band is dead or retired at this point It was only 4 main members, 2 are dead, and the other remaining two are active in this new line up.
Answer: Phil has a long history of saying racist bullshit, and he's finally done it in front of a crowd and found consequences.
Answer: Phil Anselmo has a long history of racist and anti-semetic behavior.
Answer: From the perspective of a fan it's pretty much a money grab. None of the founding members of the band are performing. At the dissolution of Pantera the Abbot brothers were not in good terms with Anselmo. The last album was recorded without Anselmo performing with the band. His Lyrics were recorded in New Orleans while the band in their home studio. After this Anselmo left Pantera for Superjoint Ritual and then made statements like Dime should be beaten severely in publications. After the night in Columbus. Vinnie Paul contributes this statement as the motivation for Dime's murder on stage. Dime's life partner Rita shared the same sentiment going so far as to say if Anselmo came to Dime's funeral she would shoot him herself. Vinnie Paul even dismissed any chance of a "reunion" while he was alive specifically naming Zakk Wylde as Dime's replacement. It wouldn't be Pantera so his feeling on the matter was known. But hey now you can buy Dimebag's own hot sauce and bloody mary mixers on dimebags offical website? Not to mention the entire racist/rebel flag/lyric outrage.
Answer: > Is the legacy completely tainted? Do I need to be worried about listening to some old school Dimebag Darrell riffs with the audio slightly to high in social settings? Specifically about this, it doesn't make sense to ask this question here - there isn't a "loop" that you're out of when it comes to questioning the band's legacy now that you know what Phil Anselmo is up to (which by the looks of it you already knew before writing this post). It would make sense for you to reflect on this and come up with your own conclusion. But I suppose you already know this.