OpEd
Two Years Later: Remembering "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott
Band Photo: Damageplan (?)
The saying goes that “time heals all wounds”, I find it to be an expression that fails to capture how slow and awkward the process of healing can be. It’s been two years since the unexpected passing of “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott and the metal community is still adjusting. Bands continue to fervently tribute songs and even entire sets and albums to the man. As a fan, hearing any Pantera song today summons more emotions than originally intended. It’s remarkable and somewhat amusing, to find oneself tearing up to “Five Minutes Alone”. Slowly however, I find that the more often I play a Pantera song, the less it feels like a part of the grieving process.
Metal Underground.com has become one of the many hubs where Dime’s creative impact and his passing still resonate. Virtually every thread relating to Pantera and Damage Plan boast a countless array of heartfelt sentiments from admirers across the globe. Coping has not come easily but fans continue to celebrate Darrell Abbott’s life by blasting his music at preposterous volumes and toasting with his patented Black tooth grin. Some find solace in the killer having been felled by a 12 gauge shotgun to the face, metal justice by anyone’s standards but poor consolation nonetheless. Most still ponder the hows and whys of the tragedy, while recieving little in the way of answers or closure. While fans will always be distressed and confused by the actions of one lone lunatic, it’s Darrell Abbott’s friends and family who have suffered the most.
Only recently have we seen any signs of recovery from the surviving members of Pantera and Damage Plan. Darrels brother, Vinnie Paul Abbott, has continued to keep himself busy with his advice column in Revolver Magazine. Last month he dubbed his newly formed supergroup Hell Yeah, which features members of Mudvayne and Nothingface. Similarly, Patrick Lachman went on to front the Mercy Clinic, while Rex Brown and Phil Anselmo have been hard at work on the next Down record.
Like all so called legends, Dimebag has a legacy of achievements that may eclipse -who- the man was. By all accounts, Darrell Abbott was a gracious and personable individual, known to wade amongst the masses at shows, personally handing out tickets, merchandise and even drinks to his fans. Dime was also in the habit of greeting new tour mates (read: total strangers) like they were old friends. Members of Shadows Fall, Alice in Chains, Lamb of God, Korn and Black Label Society have all been taken aback by Darrell’s outgoing hospitality.
In celebrating Dime’s monumental impact, it’s important that we as fans do not deify him. Darrell Abbott was many things to many people but no more or less human than anyone else. By living out his childhood dream and utilizing sheer force of will, he reinvented metal during the reign of grunge. It's conceivable that metal music might still be saving face from the extended glam farce of the 80's, if not for the cowboys from hell. We owe it to Dime and ourselves, to carry on his legacy but not with the sad bastard-fanaticism some reserve for Presley, Cobain, Hendrix and Lennon. On this, the second anniversary of his passing, the man who helped devise “Vulgar Display of Power” would rather us be banging our heads than hanging them.
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70 Comments on "Two Years Later: Remembering 'Dimebag' Darrell"
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I'll always remember how disgusted and shocked I was when I first heard about the shooting. I remember thinking it was all a mistake, I mean, how many times did MTV and several other news sources claim Eddie Vedder was dead, or Kurt Cobain was dead before he died? I never got to see Dimebag play and I'll always regret it. REST IN PEACE DIMEBAG!
Member
RememberMetal?, There's a reason your username suits you...Throughout my time here, I've read your posts which always have the deepest insights...and once again, you've proven yourself deep again...
Dime was a great guy, and I'm sure on another plain of existence, he's still a great guy...Its sad that he was taken from us by some nutter, and he really was a skilled guitarist...As great as he was (and still is), he wouldn't want us to deify him...And by the way, you few assh0les on here that post about how Dime sucked, and how it was great that he died, fvck you! Quit trying to be controversial...He deserved death no more than any of us...
Member
I remember the night I read the article that Dime was killed...I was so p***ed, and I was yet so sad...There are days when I can headbang to his work, but some days I am nearly in tears for our loss of him...There are days that you never forget....Like on 9/11, we all remember exactly where we were when we found out the news of the terrorists...And there are people who remember the day John Lennon was killed...And like that, we'll remember where we were when we read that Dime was killed...My coach from the old school was at the concert that fateful night...He'll never forget seeing our Dime fall...
It is a tragic loss...I remember when I first heard about it...my dad woke me up and told me to turn on the tv...well I did and I turned it to cnn and they said Dimebag was shot and killed...I was devastated...a little part of me died when they said that...it felt like I lost a really close relative...I started crying inside because he was gone...it was crazy because the night before I was listening to "Walk" and just jamming out...Dimebag somehow made this bridge between thrash metal and nu metal...amazing!..he will be missed and his music will live on in the hearts of the fans. Dimebag we miss you buddy. YOU ROCK!!
Master of Metal, I know EXACTLY how you feel. I was listening to the whole Vulger album days before he was killed. When I woke that morning, my mom said, " Did you hear what happened to Dimebag?" Then it pretty much hit me. So I said,"Let me guess, he's dead, right?" Man, I will never forget that f***ing feeling, and I hope I NEVER get that feeling again. I went through that entire day in a fog. RIP Dime, GETCHA MOTHERf***ING PULL!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now Playing: Pantera-Hollow
ONE OF METALS BEST, THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER DIMEBAG DARRELL, HE WAS UNIQUE ONE OF A KIND, ONE OF MY TOP GUITARISTS, TOO BAD NATHAN "D*CKSUCKING" GALE TOOK HIS LIFE, WE'LL NEVER KNOW WHAT LEFT HE HAD IN HIM, BESIDES, I FEEL MUCH SYMPATHY FOR VINNIE, TO VINNIE, I WISH I COULD BRING HIM BACK, I NEVER MET YOUR BROTHER, BUT I'M SURE HE WAS A GREAT GUY, EVERYONE SAYS SO, BUT THERE'S SOMETHING I KNEW ME AND DIMEBAG HAD IN COMMON, GETTIN' DRUNK, AND RIPPIN THAT AXE, DIMEBAG, RIP MY FRIEND, YOUR UP THERE WITH, RANDY RHOADS, HENDRIX, CLIFF BURTON, CHUCK. S, SYD BARRET, SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE MY BROTHER
Yes, well put all of you. We all miss him greatly. Tomorrow though two days after its 2 year anniversary, I'm playing Pantera from Cowboys from Hell and Vulgar Display of Power - my two most favorite albums. Their music is great, and Dime's solos are amazing. Rest in peace. We shall never forget, we will always remember.
Member
dime was one hell of a guitar player one of the best! he will live one forever in my heart, I still remember the first time I heard about his death and I was heart broken. PANTERA was a great band, and his other project DAMAGEPLAN was set to be great as well. WE LOVE DIME BAG, ROCK ON FOREVER!
It's been a peacefullly good 2 years since that motherf***er died and gone to hell.Dimebag was always a f***ing moron and so was his fans.So in honour of remembering Dimebag as an idiot he is i suggest the fans of this a$$hole to suck their mother tits and cummed on your fathers faces.Amen to that folks.
And yet again....machine boy, you are only strengthening our beliefs that you are a complete imbecile...You would be better off finding a "Nathan Gale Is God" fansite to post your moronic comments...!! Somehow, someday there will be a way to find out who you are and where you live....I only hope that you will be ready...!!!!!
Member
Machine Man, I know I've said it before, I guess I'll say it again (Yay for copy/paste)
Seriously, Machine tard...I'm always the first to laugh at blasphemy, but for me, dissing the Metal Gods who walked this earth is a blasphemy I won't touch....Nor is it one that I tolerate...
I'm dead serious guys, if you see a news article about a forum nerd getting beaten senseless for dissing Dime on a forum, not only will it be me who beat him senseless, but I will also miss charges for doing it....
Listen here Machine-gone-faulty, You haven't made a decently intelligent post since you got here, all of it is based on a VERY IGNORANT and UNJUSTIFIED bias, and Metal is an ideal that was supposed to be somewhat bias-free...I don't know what gets into some of the fools online who think they can 1)Get away with preying on children online and 2)Say completely ignorant and utterly stupid things that would get their asses kicked in real life without the safety of being behind a monitor. But this is for sure, there will come a time when you say something that stupid, and someone will show you just how ignorant you are (if you haven't shown yourself that already), and possibly just how weak you are without a keyboard to hide behind.
You have absolutely no reason to sh**talk about not only a GREAT GUITARIST, but also an even GREATER HUMAN BEING, other than to just fail at an attempt to be controversial. My advice to you is to wise up you immature attention-whoring child, and stop trying to be controversial, and don't ever disrespect the dead unless they earned it, and in the matter involving this Metal God, who has broken free of his mortal coil, there is no justifying disrespecting him or his work. And if you can do better, then by all means, succeed Dime with your skill (or lack therof), but if you can't (which I'm sure you can't), sit down, shut up if you have nothing good to say, and read the posts. Honestly, how can you bash a great guitarist like Dime, and have such crappy grammar, even for netspeak your posts are illiterate, how about you take an English class then get your prepubescent a$$ back on here to post something intelligent for once, or would that be too much to ask of your miniscule IQ? And if you even think of trying to call me stupid, I assure you, I have a 180 IQ, and I have life experience beyond my short years to match anyone 30 or 40, so unless you can brag about a higher IQ (Which you obviously LACK), a better taste in music (Which again, you obviously lack if you think Dime was anything less than a great guitarist), or life experience (Which you obviously lack yet again, I can see that, something tells me you're some spoiled a$$ poseur kid that can get what he wants when he asks his mommy, and probably sex too if you begged enough to her after pulling on her apron for aeons), then talk to me....I honestly think apart from this post (which I probably shouldn't be wasting time on making for some irrelevant life that will be easily shortened), your ignorance, bad grammar, and [self-explanatory] retardation in your posts only proves to me, the rest of MU, hopefully yourself in due time how much you lack in life...And that goes beyond even the gay pedophilic incest jokes everyone cracks about you (Though I wouldn't put it past you)...I don't think I need to say anymore, considering your lack of wit 1)won't be able to comprehend anything I just told you and 2)wont be able to reply past the stupid sub-elementary leveled posts you have been making over the weeks. I doubt you'll have anything better to say on it...So I bid you good day on trying to decipher how badly I've just 'burned' you right here, hope you grow up someday when you decide to reply to me beforehand...
Best,
Carlos 'Vampiri' Montoya
PS---
Get fvcked...
Member
People like him are nothing in my eyes, I just like to push it in his face, thats why in the other thread he still didn't get how he had to outwit me....I swear, he's like Lord Agony, but at least Agony had the sense to bash Korn and not someone thats actually good
Senior Reviewer
I think its funny that you would waste your time typing a massive post in response to someone who craves attention and conflict. But then you guys probably do as well or else you'd just ignore him...He's probably laughing right now. I would punch someone square in the face if they said that sh** in public.
AH, It feels great to be back into the Anti-Slayer alliance with Coco and Red Devil, and of course, what we know as the greatest alliance MetalUnderground.com has ever known.
Now, i didn't want to post this comment at the other Pantera thread because it obvious my friend coco here next to me imitated Machine Chick.
We can also see the next biggest a$$hole since Lord Agony that has come. Of course despite my disdain for that iguana raping sh**face, i certainly can say he owns Machine Chick pretentious c-unt.
Machine Chick, there not much to say about your gay horny men-lusting ass, other than the fact that you want to get tube and pipes shoved WAY UP, DEEP INSIDE, your f***ing culo.
Your probably the saddest d***head in this site, you worthless sh**face. hahaha.
Member
All this anti-slayer alliance sh1t is just a need to be controversial too...
I think you're all idiots...Machine b1tch for dissing Pantera (namely Dimebag), and all of you anti-slayer idiots for dissing Slayer...Both of these bands are responsible for the birth of all the Extreme Metal that you prefer over them...Preferring bands like Necrophagist and Cannibal Corpse over Slayer is one thing, but to go around, and bash on Slayer (who is responsible for the influences of Cannibal Corpse and other Extreme Metal artists...Think about it, who inspired Cannibal Corpse and Necrophagist (among others) to get into extreme metal in the first place? If those from said bands were ever interviewed, I assure you, they would say Slayer would be one of their inspirations/influlences. So shut the hell up, and start talking sense...
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f***ING DIME THE GRATEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! f***ING MAN WHO EVER LIVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!