FRESH from stellar performances at Download Festival and support slots with Avenged Sevenfold, Hellyeah are back with a vengeance with their new offering Blood for Blood.

The band has taken a slightly different approach than with past material, and drummer Vinnie Paul is confident that this is the band’s best work.

Rather than producing the album themselves, they drafted in Kevin Churko who has worked with the likes of Ozzy Osbourne and Five Finger Death Punch, simply so they could concentrate on what they do best – playing hard, fast and loud.

And they plan to so just that on their current UK tour, which comes to Manchester on August 15.

Although THAT reunion is not likely to take place anytime soon, Vinnie is quite reflective when it comes to looking back at his past in one of thrash metal’s Big Four.

Vinnie said: “I wish that when Pantera were at the height of our problems that we would have had better communication and we could have sat through and talked about things but it didn’t happen.

“But that has allowed it to happen with Hellyeah – we don’t have those problems. It’s a case of learning from your mistakes than regretting them.

“The only thing I would change is what happened with my brother, of course. But other than that, I don’t regret anything because things happen for certain reasons.”

He is of course talking about his late brother Dimebag Darrell who was shot dead on stage on December 8, 2004 by a member of the crowd whilst playing with Damageplan.

Vinnie has always been vocal about his feelings towards his brother, and he is just as forthcoming when talking about Revolver Magazine naming a prestigious award after the guitarist.

Vinnie said: “Anything that anybody does to honour my brother and help to continue his legacy is great and I was really thankful to Revolver Magazine for them naming the award after him.

“My brother is always with us. I feel like I’m living for the both of us. That’s what he would have wanted me to do. I feel like he’s with Hell Yeah.”

Although Pantera is no more, Vinnie is injecting just as much – of not more – passion into Hellyeah.

Vinnie said: “It took a while for people to realise that Pantera was something of the past and this is what we do now. But people have embraced it which is great.

“I enjoy what I have been doing with Hellyeah. This is the most success that we have had with the band so far. It definitely feels good to make your own rules and call your own shots. I love playing music – it’s my passion.

“I’m very excited about the reaction to the album. This is the best record that we have ever made. We felt that this one needed a different perspective and a change from what we have done before so we got in a producer where as in the past we always did it ourselves. But sometimes you can get a little too close to it.

“I definitely think that this year is going to be our year. We’re just finished a tour with Avenged Sevenfold where we played in front of 15,000 people who all received the band really well.

"We’re going to be touring with Five Finger Death Punch next which we’re really looking forward to. But we’re all mainly excited about playing this UK tour.”

Hellyeah play at Sound Control in Manchester on Friday, August 15.