Earlier this week we asked Metal Injection readers how they felt about Pantera releasing either a live album or new music. Very (very) light talk of new material has been thrown around here and there, with Pantera guitarist Zakk Wylde most recently saying he'd be down to do it under a different name. Drummer Charlie Benante also spoke of a potential live album, saying Pantera has been recording their shows and has been toying with the idea.
Our poll shed some interesting light on how Pantera fans really feel. Despite a lot of the comments on articles about either new studio or live material being fairly negative, just under one-third of voters said they're down for new Pantera. A second third of voters are also down for both, though a sizable portion said they'd rather Pantera release the material under a different name. And then of course there's the last chunk, who either only want a live album or neither.
The final tally for votes is:
- I'd be into new material and a new live album (1,107 votes, 30.5%)
- I'd at least check out new material and a new live album (225 votes, 6.2%)
- New material under a different name, live album as Pantera is cool (1,042 votes, 28.7%)
- Skip the new material, live album is cool (318 votes, 8.8%)
- Skip 'em both and stick to the celebration shows (938 votes, 25.8%)
To group the above numbers in another way, just under 75% of Pantera fans want a live album. Of course this is a small sample size of just over 3,500 fans, but still – that's a good portion that are into a live album.
The new material folks are a lot more split up, and that makes sense given the overall public opinion of if "Pantera is Pantera" in 2024 without the Abbott brothers. Whether it's under a different name or under the Pantera name, roughly 65.4% of voters in the poll said they'd be into at least checking out new material. Which again, it's surprising given the outspokenly negative comments to any talk of new material. Though really, when are comment sections positive?
