Dimebag Darrell
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"Dimebag" Darrell Lance Abbott (August 20 1966 – December 8, 2004) (also credited as Diamond Darrell) was the guitarist in the heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan.
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Early life
Abbott was born in Dallas, Texas, USA. His father was a country songwriter and owned a recording studio in Pantego, Texas, where Abbott watched many blues guitarists play. This early influence can be heard in many of Pantera's songs. At an early age, Abbott began entering statewide guitar competitions. By the age of sixteen he had been banned from entering because he had won too often. It was through the prizes he won at these competitions — including the guitar that later became his trademark — that he was able to start Pantera with his drumming brother, Vinnie Paul in the early 1980s.
Musical influences
Among Dimebag's other influences were Eddie Van Halen and Ace Frehley. In addition, he cited many of his contemporaries among his influences, including Slayer's Kerry King, Zakk Wylde, Metallica's James Hetfield, and Helmet's Page Hamilton.
Pantera
- Main article: Pantera
Formed in 1983, Pantera were one of the most influential Heavy Metal bands of the 1990s. They were modern (or so-called "power-groove") metal.
Pantera released three forgotten albums (Metal Magic, Projects In The Jungle and I Am The Night) before ditching singer Terry Glaze in favor of Phil Anselmo with 1988's Power Metal. Terry Glaze was included in talks to sign with a label that was fronted by Gene Simmons of KISS. When Terry balked at the contract he was kicked out of the band. Pantera then located Phil Anselmo and produced "Power Metal", a tape that had Phil singing some songs that were originally sung by Glaze, as well as a few originals.
The first commercially successful album Pantera recorded was 1990's Cowboys From Hell. At this point, Pantera's music was still heavily influenced by "classic heavy metal" — with Rob Halford-style vocals and the extravagant riffs and solos of guitarist Dimebag Darrell, though the album also showcased a more extreme style.
Pantera's breakthrough album was 1992's Vulgar Display of Power, which saw the replacement of falsetto vocals with a more shouted delivery and a heavier guitar sound. The extent to which this album grew in popularity can be assessed by the instant success of the 1994 follow-up, Far Beyond Driven which debuted at number one in both American and Australian album charts, the first metal album ever to achieve this, despite the failing fortunes of metal in America at that time. In this release, Pantera took an even more extreme direction. Pantera's next album The Great Southern Trendkill, was released in 1996 during the height of grunge rock. This album saw moderate success for the time at which it was released. Pantera's final album was Reinventing The Steel.
Music professionalism
Abbott frequently appeared in guitar magazines, both in advertisements for equipment he endorsed and in the readers' polls, where he was often included in the top ten metal guitarist spots. Darrell used Dean and Washburn guitars throughout his career, with various signature MLs. Seymour Duncan also has a bridge pickup made by Dime, called the Dimebucker. Dean has released the new Dime Tribute line of ML guitars, usually with Dimebuckers and a Seymour Duncan neck pickup. Dime's guitars also included Floyd Rose floating tremolo bridges, which he would use to find normally inaccessible harmonics. Abbott also wrote a long-running Guitar World magazine column, which has been compiled in the book Riffer Madness (ISBN 0769291015).
Musical influences
Among Dimebag's other influences were Eddie Van Halen and Ace Frehley. In addition, he cited many of his contemporaries among his influences, including Slayer's Kerry King, Zakk Wylde, Metallica's James Hetfield, and Helmet's Page Hamilton.
Formation of Damageplan
His brother, Vinnie Paul, played drums in Pantera. The brothers teamed up with country singer David Allan Coe in a project called "Rebel Meets Rebel". After the Pantera breakup they started a new band, Damageplan, with Patrick Lachman and Bob Zilla . Their debut album, New Found Power, reached number 38 in the charts in 2004.
Abbott's murder
Abbott was murdered while performing on December 8 2004 at a Damageplan concert at the Alrosa Villa nightclub in Columbus, Ohio, USA. Nathan Gale, 25, of Marysville, Ohio, entered the nightclub at about 10:00 p.m., just after the performance began, after scaling an eight-foot fence and being chased into the building by club security. He entered the left side of the stage and proceeded across to the right where Abbott was standing. Gale then grabbed Abbott and shot him twice in the head with a Beretta pistol at point blank range. Abbott received a total of 5 to 8 gunshots.
Three others were killed in the shooting: attendee Nathan Bray, 23, of Columbus; club employee Erin Halk, 29, of northwest Columbus; and Damageplan security guard Jeff "Mayhem" Thompson, 40, of Texas. The band's drum technician, John Brooks, and tour manager, Chris Paluska, were also injured.
According to police, Gale fired a total of fifteen shots from a Beretta pistol, taking the time to reload once, remaining silent throughout the shooting (although early reports indicated he made disparaging remarks about the breakup of Pantera). When security staff and audience members climbed the stage to try to stop him, Gale fired at them, killing Halk and Thompson and wounding Brooks and Paluska. Gale then took a hostage, holding him in a headlock position. When the hostage moved slightly, Columbus police officer James D. Niggemeyer shot and killed Gale with a 12 gauge police issue shotgun in the back of the head.
During the rampage, nurse and audience member Mindy Reece, 28, went to the aid of Abbott. She and another fan administered CPR until paramedics arrived [1] (http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/6660359/pantera?pageid=rs.NewsArchive&pageregion=mainRegion&rnd=1102636992116&has-player=true&version=6.0.12.872). According to some reports, victim Nathan Bray was also attempting to render assistance when he was killed.
The shootings occurred on the 24th anniversary of the murder of John Lennon, but there is no indication that this was a factor in Gale's actions.
In May 2005, Officer James D. Niggemeyer was cleared by the Franklin County grand jury, which is charged with formally investigating police shootings. As expected, Niggemeyer was cleared and commended on his outstanding police work in the time of a crisis.
External links
- Official Pantera website (http://www.pantera.com/)
- Vinnie Paul and Dimebag website (http://www.vinnieanddime.com/)
- Official Damageplan website (http://www.damageplan.com/)
- Dimebag Darrell Tribute Site (http://www.dimebagdarrell.co.uk/)]]]de:Dimebag Darrell
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