In a story that may set the entire metal world on its ear, several sources have speculated that Pantera may reunite to play a series of shows in 2013.  Pantera, whose seminal Vulgar Display of Power record turned 20 this year, have been broken up since 2003.  The band was a major force in heavy metal, topping the billboard album charts in 1994 with their release Far Beyond Driven. A Pantera reunion would, no doubt, be the concert event of 2013, if not of this decade.

The rumors began during a conversation last week between my friend Matt and I.  We were discussing the merits of “The Great Southern Trendkill” and I mentioned, “Wouldn’t it be great if they got back together!?!?!”

Matt replied, “Yeah!  I’d travel anywhere in the country to see them, but Vinny and Phil are on really bad terms since Dime died.   No chance.”

I looked at Matt and said, “But there would a lot of money on the table.  A whole lot of money.  My cousin Johnny ate a bag of thumbtacks once for 20 dollars.  He ended up having to have surgery and now he can’t drink milk or ginger ale.  He was never right afterwards.  Sometimes, he acts like he’s a pirate and digs enormous holes in his backyard looking for treasure.  He even makes fake treasure maps and ‘finds’ them in strange places that he hid them hours earlier.  The point is, this Pantera reunion can happen if someone, like maybe the Koch Brothers or George Soros or somebody big puts about 100 million in front of them.  That sort of cash moves mountains.”

Paulie Reznik, the guy we hired to fix the hole in our roof from last week’s storm, confirmed that a Pantera reunion could happen.  “It could happen, man.  For sure,” said Paulie, a diehard Pantera fan and owner of nearly 300 heavy metal bobblehead dolls, in a recent interview with Tyranny of Tradition.

However, my wife adamantly denied the possibility of a Pantera tour.  She claimed that the rumors are baseless, that I had skipped a dosage of my medication again and that I was ‘allegedly’ pretending that things that I make up are really happening.  “Honey, why don’t you go lay down for a while?  You’re doing that thing where you are confusing fantasy and reality.  Remember last month you thought Picasso had come back from the grave and told you to spray paint the cat orange and speak only in Aramaic?  That wasn’t true either.  You just need some rest.”

Pantera, for their part, have yet to comment on the rumors.  Often, when a person or group refuses to confirm or deny a story it is because there is some truth to it.  Where there is smoke there is fire, or so the saying goes.  If Pantera continues to refuse to comment on the rumors that I am making up, you can pretty much bet your life savings that they will be back on the stage in 2013.  Sometimes silence speaks volumes.