PANTERA have confirmed that they will join METALLICA as special guests on select dates of the M72 World Tour's 2026 European and UK stadium leg. The legendary groove metal outfit — featuring vocalist Phil Anselmo, guitarist Rex Brown, alongside Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante filling the roles of the late Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul — will appear at four massive stadium dates: Frankfurt on May 24, Budapest on June 11, Dublin on June 19, and London on July 5.
The addition of PANTERA to the M72 bill represents one of the most formidable double-header lineups in heavy metal touring history. Both bands have been on extraordinary runs in recent years — METALLICA's M72 tour has shattered every touring record in metal history, while PANTERA's reunion, initially met with skepticism from some quarters, has been validated by rapturous crowd responses at festivals and headline shows worldwide since their return in late 2022.
PANTERA will also headline Thursday night at the Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, Kentucky, sharing the bill across the weekend with IRON MAIDEN and MEGADETH — a lineup that reads like a Mount Rushmore of heavy metal. Additionally, PANTERA will make their first-ever appearances in Greece and Turkey, including a highly anticipated Istanbul date that has already generated enormous demand.
The band's 2024 album "Resurgence" — their first new studio material in over two decades — was met with strong reviews and commercial success, proving that the PANTERA machine is firing on all cylinders. The record debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 and topped metal charts worldwide, silencing many critics who doubted the reunion could produce meaningful new music. With a packed summer schedule spanning festivals, headline dates, and now stadium support slots with METALLICA, PANTERA's 2026 is shaping up to be their biggest year since the band's original heyday in the 1990s.