Today (December 8th) marks the 10th anniversary of the killing of “Dimebag” Darrell of Pantera. Metallers everywhere will be remembering how good a guitar player Darrell was and it’s not just that, it’s also how much personality he had and he brought to the group.
As we reflect on him, we also think about the cutting edge groove of the albums Vulgar Display of Power and Far Beyond Driven, both which got some pretty good MTV airplay back then, with some major coverage in terms of world tours.
From the early Pantera days of sleaze, spandex and generally glam aesthetics, to the superheavy Anselmo groundbreaking groove metal, Dimebag had always been there, alongside his brother Vinnie Paul, they were the heart and core of Pantera and later Damageplan, whose sole album stayed shockingly underrated and only picked up after Dimebag’s murder. In Rebel Meets Rebel, that incredible southern metal band with three members of Pantera and country artist David Allan Coe, Dimebag shined, but the back never broke into a really wide audience.
Outside those bands, over the years Dimebag got to work with Rob Halford, Ace Frehley, Anthrax, King Diamond, Sebastian Bach and no one knows what would have happened if he had finally ended up in Megadeth, as Dave Mustaine had invited him to join the band, but he wouldn’t go without Vinnie, unfortunately for both sides, Megadeth weren’t in need for a drummer at that point.
Dimebag was murdered on stage, doing what he loved to do best, in an incident that could bring to one’s mind even the dumbest action movies. He’s been deservedly praised as one of metal’s greatest guitarists and the legacy he left behing with his work from 1981 to 2004, speaks for itself.
RS/ZR