I'm a fan of heavy metal music, although usually more specifically progressive heavy metal. Nevertheless, I enjoy straight-ahead, ass-kicking, hard-core metal quite a bit, and they don't come much harder core than Pantera. Thus, I was saddened to hear that Dimebag Darrell, their lead guitarist, was fatally shot while performing with his new band Damageplan last night. At this time, it's unclear whether his brother Vinnie Paul (formerly Pantera's drummer) was also shot, and if shot, whether he was killed. I certainly hope not for the sake of their family.
Dimebag was a huge influence on an entire generation of metal and nonmetal musicians. It's not unfair to compare the impact of his death on the musicians I most enjoy to that of the death of John Lennon on his generation...especially when you realize that Lennon was also killed on December 8th.
A sad day indeed! Oh the days of Cowboys from Hell were glorious for me. Glad to see there are other techies out there who love this stuff as much as I do. And freaky coincidence with John Lennon!
ReplyDeleteDude I am totall bummed.
ReplyDeleteI blogged about this as well. Check the blog for my Darrell Tale....
Rodman
I also blogged about this. His murder was horrible news. A friend of mine who owns Wonder Interactive was actually editing a video of "Dimebag" for KranK amps when he found out about it. As a guitar player myself, I have always been impressed by musicians who have a unique style...and his sound was unique. Very sad.
ReplyDeleteI saw this news at 2am yesterday morning, shortly after it happened. I met "Dime" once at a MARS store in Arlington, TX. Turned out that we lived close to each other and that store was one of his fave hangouts when he was in Texas. I wasn't really a metal guy (but I am a guitar player), but he was nice, and spent time talking to young guitarists about some of his techniques. My impression was that he was pretty damn "normal" when off the stage. I'm glad, if only for a few minutes, I got to know him as a human being.
ReplyDeleteI live in Columbus and was stunned (still am) that this happened. Being a metal fan, I've been to that club before and am sad to see this occur to such an influential person. Pantera's "Cowboys From Hell" and "Vulgar Display of Power" still rank high on my list of metal albums.
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