For Dez Fafara, the question of who reigns as heavy metal’s finest frontman isn’t really a question at all, and his answer places one living icon ahead of even the late Prince of Darkness. The DevilDriver and Coal Chamber singer has crowned Pantera‘s Phil Anselmo the best in the business, putting him above Ozzy Osbourne himself.
The endorsement came during a conversation on the “Garza Podcast“, hosted by Suicide Silence guitarist Chris Garza. Talking about Anselmo, Fafara didn’t hedge (as transcribed by Ultimate Guitar):
“Phillip – for me – I would say is the top frontman in the world, period, end of story. I love Ozzy, but I put him above Ozzy. That’s just cause…f**k, I don’t know, man. Plus, he’ll beat your f**king a**. He’s real. He’s a real f**king deal – Holyfield [in reference to the former boxer, Evander Holyfield].”
Fafara went on to spell out exactly what earns Anselmo that top spot in his book, pointing not just to his stage presence but to his songwriting and the sheer reach of Pantera‘s influence.
“He’s an amazing front man, amazing writer, and obviously one of the biggest bands in the world. Influenced everybody. I don’t think there’s anybody not influenced by Pantera. I wish I would have found him earlier, I would have got influenced vocally. But that just never happened,” Fafara said.
That admiration is rooted in a friendship that goes back decades, and began with a bold bit of prophecy from a young, not-yet-famous Fafara. Elsewhere in the interview, he recounted the chance street-corner meeting that started it all: “I have a crazy story. When I was in Coal Chamber, I was walking down Melrose Ave. and Coal Chamber was just about to get signed, and I saw Phillip. And I said, ‘Hey man, I love your s**t. I’m listening to your s**t.’ And he put his bags down, he’s like, ‘Cool, man.’ He signed something for me. I’m like, ‘One day, I’m going to tour with you.’ And he goes, ‘You know what, man? Bad a**. I hope you will.'”
The prediction came true faster than Fafara could have imagined, and in far more personal fashion. “A year later, we pull up to a Pantera tour in my bus. Nobody’s on the bus but me. I hear the door knock and I answer it, and it’s Anselmo. And he goes, ‘Get your s**t.’ I thought it was getting kicked off the tour. I’m like, ‘OK.’ I got my bag and I go up on his bus. And he’s like, ‘This is my bunk, that’s your bunk below me. Throw your s**t in – you’re living with me.’ And that’s how we became friends.”
Fafara has been a fixture of heavy music for the better part of thirty years, first emerging with Coal Chamber amid the mid-1990s nu-metal wave before founding DevilDriver in 2002 and building a reputation on ferocious vocals and a punishing touring ethic. The band remains in high gear, having released its eleventh studio album, Strike and Kill, in July 2026 via Napalm Records, a fresh chapter more than two decades on from its debut.
Anselmo, for his part, needs little introduction. His work fronting Pantera helped redraw the map of heavy metal across a run of landmark records including Cowboys From Hell, Vulgar Display of Power and Far Beyond Driven, the kind of catalog that lends real weight to Fafara‘s lofty ranking.
