The rhythm guitarist of the heavy metal band Hellyeah, Tom Maxwell has talked about the death of Vinnie Paul and explained how tough it was to lose him for each of the band members during a recent interview.

On the latest interview Maxwell gave to FM99 WNOR, he has expressed the deep sorrows of all the members of Hellyeah feel about the former drummer of the band, Vinnie Paul. Tom Maxwell revealed that it was extremely difficult for the rest of the band to complete their latest album, ‘Welcome Home’, following the passing of Vinnie Paul Abbott.

Maxwell said that they are still devastated about the grieving loss and he doesn’t think they can ever recover from the trauma. Stating that Vinnie was his partner in writing, he admitted that losing him was much more than losing only a bandmate. Tom said that Vinnie Paul’s death felt like losing your wife or your husband or someone who is irreplaceable.

Vincent Paul Abbott, who was the co-founder of Pantera and the drummer of Hellyeah, died at his home in Las Vegas on June 22, 2018, at the age of 54. It was later revealed that Abbott had died from a dilated cardiomyopathy and coronary artery disease. Following his death, tributes from all over the metal community began pouring in. He was buried beside his mother, Carolyn, and brother, Darrell in Arlington, Texas.

Here is what Tom Maxwell said about Vinnie Paul:

“It was tough. We literally had to suck it up and get in there and just play for him and play for each other and play for the record and play for the fans. They were gonna wanna hear this. We were obligated — it was unwritten. It was something we had to do. And it was tough.”

He continued:

“We’re still devastated about it. It’s not something that we can ever recover from, I don’t think. I think about the future, and, to be honest with you, I don’t know how we are gonna be able to do it. And I’m not trying to take any kind of credit here, but he was my partner writing.

Everything that I did bounced off of him, and then he bounced back off to me. And it’s just on a musical level either; it’s more of an emotional level. My love affair for trying to continue without him has been crippled. It’s like losing your wife or your husband or someone who is irreplaceable. It’s, like, how do you do that?

I mean, people do — people go on, and they do, but usually they find light at the end of the tunnel through another door. Like with Vince — it was hard for Vince to continue without his brother [late Pantera guitarist ‘Dimebag’ Darrell Abbott], but he found light at the end of our door. So we’re kind of faced with that.”

You can check out the rest of the interview below.