It took some doing to get Vinnie Paul into a band again.
Nothingface bassist Jerry Montano approached the former
Pantera and Damageplan drummer to be part of the all-star
outfit Hellyeah several times before Paul -- still
mourning the December 2004 onstage shooting of his
brother, Dimebag Darrell, at a Damageplan show in
Columbus, Ohio -- acquiesced.

"I've known Jerry forever," Paul tells Billboard.com, "and
he started calling me and said, 'Dude, you've gotta be the
drummer for this band.' And I was like, 'Man, I'm not sure
if I'm ready to do this. I just started my own label (Big
Vin Records)."

"But persistence pays off," Paul continues. "He kept
calling and finally one night he got me when I'd been
drinking and listening to music. And I said, 'This sounds
like a great idea.' The next day I talked to everybody and
loved everybody's attitude and said, 'What the f*ck. I'm
in!'"

Besides Paul and Montano, Hellyeah includes Nothingface
guitarist Tom Maxwell and Mudvayne principals
Chad Gray on vocals and Gregg Tribbett on guitar. All concerned say
that Paul was the lynchpin for the group, whose
self-titled debut album came out April 10 via Epic.

"It wouldn't have been possible or feasible without him,"
says Gray. "He housed us. He provided resources. He
provided the studio, the engineer. He provided know-how
... Everything we needed, really."

Montano adds that Paul particularly helped "when it came
down to the nuts and bolts of recording and engineering.
That's where that man shined. A lot of people don't know
he (produced) those last Pantera records himself. The guy
knows his stuff, and he worked his ass off on this
record."

Paul says the hardest part, emotionally, was recording at
the Chasin' Jason studio in the garage of Dimebag
Darrell's Dallas-area home, which was loaded with photos
and memorabilia from their days making music together.

"It was very tough at first," he acknowledges. "But once
we got in there it felt like the dark cloud that was there
went away, and it really felt like Dime was watching over
us and guiding us. Everybody just really had nothing but
positive energy from the get-go. That's what made it
work."

Hellyeah plans a world tour to support the album,
including some European festivals and a run on this year's
edition of KoЯn's Family Values Tour.

[Track List]
1. Hellyeah 3:30
2. You Wouldn't Know 4:18
3. Matter Of Time 3:46
4. Waging War 3:05
5. Alcohaulin' Ass 3:54
6. Goddamn 3:20
7. In The Mood 0:59
8. Star 3:42
9. Rotten To The Core 3:52
10.Thank You 4:31
11.Nausea 4:59
12.One Thing 3:51