DIMEBAG DARRELL, 1966-2004
It is a dark day in heavy metal, not to mention in music in general. Last night, as I’m sure everyone knows by now, Dimebag Darrell (n`e Diamond Darrell, Darrell Abbott) was shot while performing with his band Damageplan. Shot to death right in front of a club full of 200+ people.
Of course, Darrell will be best remembered for his work, spanning almost two decades, in Pantera. Love ’em or hate ’em, Pantera were arguably the most influential band in modern (post-1992) metal. And a key ingredient of their sound was the guitar-slinging of Dimebag Darrell. He was as integral a part of the band’s ’90’s sound as the bellowing of Phil Anselmo. Even after Phil sunk into self-parody in the mid-’90’s, nearly every Pantera song still had something notable to offer. And that something notable was usually a crushing Dimebag Darrell riff or howling solo.
No one sounded exactly like Dime. It can be argued that there are more technically gifted players, or faster ones, or more diverse ones, but no one can deny that Dime had a sound that was all his own. He was a master of tone and power. His riffs were heavy on low-E trilling, his solos laden with whammy-bar heroics and impossibly high pitches.
By all accounts, Darrell lived the life of the modern-day cowboy (if one will pardon the Tesla reference--not that there’s anything wrong with it): chicks, booze, drugs, guns, wheels, guitars. He lived a life of wealth that most of us will never attain, and has probably seen things we can only imagine. Scenes of luxury that are mere daydreams for us, and scenes of debauchery almost nightmarish in their wildness. In a way, it’s fitting that he should die like a cowboy too: in a shootout in a saloon. The proverbial blaze of glory.
But of course, there’s nothing glorious about his death.
I don’t mean to be belittling the loss of the two other people shot, who are as yet unidentified. I’m sure I don’t know them when they ARE ID’d. That doesn’t make their loss any less important than Darrell’s, but they are losses thatmost of us will never truly feel. Those of us who enjoyed Pantera’s mjusic, or Damageplan’s for that matter, will miss Darrell though. As for the gunman, who was killed by a policeman working security for the club, well, he’s no loss.
In closing, I’d like to offer up my favorite Dimebag Darrell moments from Pantera’s catalog. I’m not a big fan of Damageplan, and don’t own much of Pantera’s ’80’s material beyond a few songs, so this will be confined to the years 1990-2000.
Rest in peace, Dimebag Darrell. You will be missed.
1) “Cowboys From Hell" (1990) Pretty much everything about this song is classic, but I especially love Dime’s intro and verse riff. He was the King of the Chug.
2) “Primal Concrete Sledge” (1990) The title says it all. A heavy, relentless, jackhammering riff. Few could do so much with one chord.
3) “Cemetary Gates” (1990) The solo at the end, particularly one long, ear-splitting note that mimics Phil’s anguished scream.
4) “Domination” (1990) The part at the end, where Dime turns three simple notes into a slow, merciless march.
5) “A New Level” (1992) The opening squeal: classic Dimebag.
6) “Walk” (1992) A simple, stop-start riff, bookended around a solo laden with tremolo and bluesy whoops.
7) “Hollow” (1992) The gentle, recurrent chiming and mournful wails in the first half, and the angry churning in the second.
8) “Planet Caravan” (1994) A sparkling gem on an otherwise poor album, and it’s all Darrell’s doing, particularly his delay-riddled noodly-picking solo to close the song.
9) “Floods” (1996) The unbridled howling solo to complete the song’s vision of doom, adding as much emotion as Anselmo’s disembodied vocals.
10) “Hellbound” (2000) Is this Dime’s tribute to Van Halen’s “Atomic Punk?”
Today’s inspirational song lyrics are brought to us, of course, by Pantera:
“Oh how we miss him, at least what’s remembered.”
12/09/2004
