Machine Head vocalist/guitarist Robb Flynn had this to say,

”Found time to hop into Trident Studios with Juan Urteaga and record a PANTERA tune for a b-side. We’re doing ‘Fucking Hostile’!!! Dave is done with drums (nailed it on the second take!), and I finished guitars yesterday and got vocals in the bag. Phil comes in tomorrow, then Adam, then it’ll be mixed and mastered by the end of the week. Mike Sloat has been documenting, so we’ll probably have video snippets up when the whole thing gets closer to release. We also just announced our sole U.S. headline date on November 6 in NY, so FUCKIN’ A!!! Come make a road trip to N.Y. for some raging metal!!!”

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Go get it!

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Darrell Lance Abbott was born August 20, 1966 to Carolyn and Jerry Abbott in Dallas, TX. His father owned a recording studio in Dallas, and as a child Darrell would be inspired by the many country and blues artists that he’d see come and go. Upon discovering Kiss, and more specifically guitarist Ace Frehley, Darrell became interested in heavy metal. Inspired, he started entering guitar talent competitions as a teenager. After winning pretty much everything he entered, he knew that his course was set. In the early 80’s, Darrell started going by the name “Diamond” and formed Pantera with his brother, drummer Vinnie Paul and bassist Rex Smith. With frontman Terry Glaze, the early glam metal style of Pantera was influenced by bands such as Def Leppard and Judas Priest. After releasing three albums (1983’s Metal Magic, 1984’s Projects in the Jungle, and 1985’s I Am the Night), Terry Glaze left the band.

Pantera then found a young singer by the name of Phil Anselmo, and the history of metal was changed forever. Disowning their three previous albums, Pantera began to reinvent their sound. In 1990, Cowboys from Hell was unleashed upon an unsuspecting world, featuring a much heavier style. However, with their release of Vulgar Display of Power in 1992, Pantera cemented their position as legends of metal. In 1994, Darrell changed his name from “Diamond” to “Dimebag”. 1996’s The Great Southern Trendkill earned the band their first Grammy nomination for “Suicide Note, Pt. 1”, and 1997’s release of Official Live: 101 Proof earned them yet another Grammy nod for their live version of “Cemetery Gates”.

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Simply called “Dime” by most of his friends, Dimebag was known as the friendliest, most giving person most had ever met. Fans in Texas considered Dime to be the “people’s rock star”, as he was known to eat at chain restaurants and wave “hello” to fans while strolling through a local Target store. He was very approachable, and Dime never seemed to let stardom go to his head. Rarely seen without his favorite drink (called a “Black Tooth Grin“) in his hand, friends said that Dime lived his rock and roll lifestyle with grace. He enjoyed dousing his friends and family with gifts, and cherished the time that he spent with them. Dimebag Darrell was a class act.

In 2003, Pantera broke up, leading Dimebag and brother Vince to form Damageplan with Pat Lachman on vocals and bassist Bob Zilla rounding out the new band. In February, 2004, Damageplan released their debut album New Found Power, which sold 44,676 copies it’s first week, debuting at number 38 on the Billboard 200. Tragedy struck the night of December 8, 2004, when Damageplan took the stage at Alrosa in Columbus, OH.

During the band’s opening song, 25 year old Nathan Gale rushed across the stage and opened fire on Dimebag Darrell, hitting him several times and killing him instantly. Gale then killed three other people and wounded two more before being shot and killed by a Columbus police officer. I would write about his motives, but this article isn’t about the deranged man that murdered several people and took a legend from us, it’s about honoring one of the greatest guitarists of all time, Dimebag Darrell Abbott. His death has been covered, and while we still grieve for the loss of such a phenomenal brother… I believe that we should celebrate his life, and all that he gave to us in his years of performing.

RIP, Dime. We love you.

[images: ZUMA Press]

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Dave Mustaine hinted at a possible upcoming tour that has potential to “squash feuds” on one of his Megadeth Forums updates yesterday.

Droogies!

Today is the 9th of April and I have agreed to doing something last night that I am sure a lot of people are going to be very excited about, and something that I had hoped would one day lead to another one of the potential feuds going away for good, if not for a long while.

I can’t confirm the band or the dates yet, and I have to go get my youngster up for school. Rest assured, as soon as we are ready to announce it, you will be one of the first to know. Check here at the official Megadeth Forums, the Killing Road pages, and here at TheLIVEline.com.

So who is the mystery band(s) that they are going to tour with? Some may think that it’s Metallica, but if I were to take an educated guess it would be Slayer. Megadeth and Dave Mustaine performed at this past weeks Revolver Golden God Awards and Slayer was also present at the show where Dave was seen talking to them. Sure, seeing Megadeth perform with Metallica would be something that most people would never expect but Dave has had issues with Kerry King for awhile now too. Maybe it’s going to have Vinnie Paul. Mustaine had a feud with Pantera awhile back too, but I really wouldn’t want to see Megadeth with Hell Yeah! Let’s hope it’s Slayer.

(Image: Newscom)

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Off of the top of my head I can think of two bands that should get inducted, well before Metallica, such as Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. There are other bands that I’d like to see get inducted…after the previously mentioned bands. I don’t want to see Dave Mustaine inducted under Metallica. He deserves to be inducted for his band, Megadeth, not a band that he contributed to. So with them on top, here are five bands of the Metal Genre that I believe should be inducted.

• Megadeth: A given. If Metallica can get inducted after releasing albums such as St. Anger then Megadeth deserve a nomination, right?
• Motorhead: A huge influence on so many of the rock and metal bands of today. How has this not happened yet?
• Pantera: Seriously, they had a huge impact on the metal scene and they don’t get enough credit for persevering and pushing through the grunge era.
• Danzig: With the contribution of The Misfits, Samhain and , well, let’s at least say the first four Danzig Albums, Glenn has made some great music that has influenced a lot of bands to include Metallica. Though I get tired of the satanic overtones in everything that he does these days, Glenn is a a great composer of music.
• Slayer: If Metallica can get inducted, why can’t Slayer? They had some totally awesome albums over the years, even though everything kind of went bland after Season In The Abyss. they still have had a huge impact on the metal scene since their inception.

Sure these are some old school names, but there aren’t many other bands that deserve recognition. There are a handful that deserve an honorable mention such as Exodus and Anthrax. Sadly Motley Crue will probably be inducted before any of these bands, even Maiden or Priest. That’s how the corporate jack-offs in the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame roll.

So, the ultimate question; who do YOU think deserves to be inducted in to the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame from the metal (in general) genre?

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A Vulgar Display Of Power: Courage And Carnage At The Alrosa Villa

It starts off by telling you about the first time Nathan Gale made an assault at a Damageplan concert in Cincinnati, Ohio. A lot of people didn’t know or hear about this incident in April of 2004. That night nobody died and the only person that got hurt was Gale, after security dragged him out in back of the venue and subdued him until police arrived. No charges were pressed by the band at that time. Maybe if they pressed charges this book would have never been written.

Each chapter introduces one of the victims and summarizes their life, from birth leading up the the tragedy. You get to know each person on a somewhat personal level…even Nathan Gale. At one point, you actually feel sorry for Gale because you realize that he had mental issues. But when the read through Chapter 11: By Demons Be Driven, you no longer see him as a human being. You get to know Nathan Bray as a hard working family man with a love for metal and everything Dimebag Darrell. You get to know Jeffrey “Mayhem” Thompson, a big man with a huge heart. You learn about Erin “Stoney” Halk, a U.S. Marine turned Roadie. Of course you get to know Darrell Abbott a little more too. In between chapters is “Dime Time” contributions about people that new or loved Darrell Abbott.

There are plenty of photos in the book and tons of reference. The Author, Chris Arnold did a lot of research in the writing process of this book. Chris A. took the time to make sure the details were there and accurate in recounting the events that unfolded on December 8th, 2004. He also stresses that although it will be a night that most everyone remembers the death of Dimebag Darrell Abbott, that there were three other people that died there that night. People that made an effort to stop Nathan Gale and/or help other victims of the shooting. Sure Dimebag loved and was loved…but so where the other people that died that night. If you want to learn about the shooting at the Alrosa Villa and the people involved then this book is a great read and will open your eyes to a lot of things.

Image Source: Amazon.com

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The book also came with Dimevision Vol. 1. The book is great and is full of pictures of Dime, friends, guitars, etc. It also has dialogue from Vinnie and other friends and family of Dimebag as well as some history on Dimebag and the bands he’s played in.

The DVD, if you’ve never seen it is mostly hand-held footage from various places and stages. There is a lot of shots at Dime’s home and a lot of fireworks. I don’t know how this dude never burned his house down. Some dime footage of the early days and more recent footage from 2004, shortly before his death. The sound quality is low because most of the film quality is low, but it’s still a blast to watch Dimebag Darrell having a good time, all the time even after his brand new Escalade gets damaged.

A lot of people have jumped on Rita Haney and Vinnie Paul Abbott for putting stuff like this out, calling it marketing on and making money off of Dime’s death. I feel that this book and DVD are more of a gift (A gift you have to pay for of course) to the fans of Dimebag. It costs money to make stuff like this and I don’t think that it is nothing more than a tribute to Dimbag, the cool cat that he was and the amazing talent that he brought that could never be emulated.

The book is a must have for fans and the DVD is a gift of seeing Dime playing and ripping these monstrously unbelievable solos and Dime just being a party animal and even speaking from the heart about music and recording. It will have you laughing your ass off at times and sad at other times knowing that you’ll never be able to see him play again and to know that so many people lost a good friend.

Great Book, Great DVD. Can’t wait to see Dimevision Vol. 2. Amazon sell this for about $27 brand new but you might be able to find it at Best Buy for $19.99. You can also order it from Big Vin Records and get a free copy of Rebel Meets Rebel for $29.99. If you love Dime and the music he brought us then you will love this book and DVD.

Image Source: Amazon.com

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“Dimebag” Darrell Lance Abbott

Aug. 20, 1966- Dec. 4, 2004

Four years ago I was still in the military and was overseas. I was going through my daily ritual of checking email, news and such before heading to work when I heard them say something about someone being killed at a Damageplan concert. I didn’t catch the whole thing so I ran a search on Yahoo! and it returned with a bunch of headlines reading “Damageplan Guitarist Murdered On Stage During Concert“, Or “Four Killed At Ohio Heavy Metal Concert“.

I thought, “This can’t be possible!” and shortly afterwards I found out that it was Dimebag Darrell that had been killed along with three others. My heart sank to my stomach and I could feel a big lump in my throat. I’d be lying to you if I said that I didn’t cry just a little bit. It was a sad day for so many people and the thought of Vinnie Paul seeing his brother shot in the head at point blank range was just awful.

Like so many others, I never knew Darrell personally, but every time you saw him in a non-performance video he always seemed to be this shining star of personality. He always seemed happy and really cool just as everyone that knew him personally described him. It’s still kind of hard to believe what happened was real even after 4 years. There’s nothing that can turn back the hands of time and restrain his murderer and the only person to blame is Nathan Gale. Nothing anyone says or does can change that so there is no use in pointing fingers anywhere else anymore.

On this 4 year anniversary of Dimebag’s death, let’s pay tribute by having a virtual Black Tooth Grin and never forget the metal masterpieces that he gave to us. Rest In Peace, Dime’.

Let’s not forget the three other people that were killed that night: Jeffrey Thompson (Damageplan crew), Nathan Bray (An audience member), and Erin Halk (Club security).

Image: Newscom.com

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