Darrell ‘Dimebag’ Abbott (formerly of Pantera) was shot dead last night while performing in Columbus Ohio with his band Damageplan. Apparently, a lone gunman stormed the stage and began firing just minutes after Damageplan began playing.
For those of us who link the metal of the late 80’s – early 90’s to the soundtrack of our punk adolescence, we remember how bands like the new Van Halen or a watered down Metallica left us feeling dissatisfied, if not a little embarrassed. But Pantera – with their driving tempos and blistering guitars - remained metal. And sometimes they fit the bill just perfectly. Through the 90’s - while bands all around the U.S began dropping their E string to a D tuning, in the hopes of capturing the ‘Seattle sound’, and old metal bands began to reveal the softer side behind their freshly chopped hair - Pantera stayed the same Texas band: hard as hell and still as loud.
R.I.P. Darrell.
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