Phil Anselmo broke his silence about the death of his former Pantera bandmate "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott with a videotaped statement released to the media this week. Abbott and three others were killed when a gunman charged the stage and opened fire on December 8th at the Alrosa Villa club in Columbus, Ohio, just after Abbott's band Damageplan began playing.

"I love him like a brother loves a brother," Anselmo said. "I'm so sorry to his family and everyone else who was senselessly killed in Columbus, Ohio."

In deference to the wishes of Abbott's family, Anselmo did not attend the guitarist's funeral in Dallas on Tuesday. The two had feuded in the press since Pantera's acrimonious split in 2003, with Anselmo recently telling Metal Hammer magazine that Abbott "deserves to be beaten severely," and "I could kill him like a fuckin' piece of vapor."

Anselmo -- who has been fronting his own band, Superjoint Ritual -- sounded contrite in his current statement, saying, "I never got a chance to say goodbye in the right way, and it kills me, and I'm so sorry. This has changed the entire world, and this is the last you'll be seeing of me for a long time."

Anselmo's Web site is currently black.

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