Watch Dimebag Darrell get confused by his own riff
When thinking of the most crucial metal guitarists, Dimebag Darrell is a name that quickly springs to mind. As the guitarist of Pantera and Damageplan, he instilled genuine muscle in the metal genre in the form of pounding, chorus-drenched riffs delivered from his mean-looking axes. One of the definitive figures in groove metal, without moments such as ‘Cowboys from Hell’ and ‘Walk’, contemporary metal would be a completely different beast than it is today.
Dimebag was born Darrell Lance Abbott in Texas in 1966. The second son of esteemed country producer Jerry Abbott, who worked with legends such as Emmylou Harris and Freddy Fender, Dimebag grew up around high-quality music, setting the scene for his meteoric rise in the future.
He started learning the guitar aged 12 and was initially influenced by three metal greats, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Kiss, and retrospectively, all three artists account for the different aspects of his style, Sabbath the darkness, Priest the visceral edge and Kiss the groove. Notably, Dimebag loved Kiss so much that he would practice his instrument standing in front of the mirror wearing makeup that emulated the one donned by his New York idols.
Pantera formed in 1981, and Darrell only entered the fold when his older brother, drummer Vinnie, said he would join the band on the proviso that his brother could too. They had a period of performing as a forgettable glam metal outfit – complete with all the hairspray and spandex – and after three albums, they hired Philip Anselmo as frontman, and the trajectory of their lives changed forever. The introduction of Anselmo saw the band develop a heavier, totally new sound, which came together on 1988’s Power Metal.
From that point, Pantera became the pioneers of the groove metal genre, and on their 1990 record Cowboys from Hell, they cemented their place in the history books. Following the record’s success, they continued to build on their work, enjoying their most fruitful period, creating even more oppressive-sounding albums with 1992’s Vulgar Display of Power and 1994’s Far Beyond Driven.
By the end of the decade, Dimebag was lauded as a guitar hero, and was mentioned in the same breath as his heroes, a reflection of the consequential nature of his efforts.
Despite his hero status, like every human, Dimebag was also capable of making mistakes, as he showed during a demo of one of his riffs. Introducing the piece, he explains the key it’s in and, briefly, how he wrote it. However, he quickly confuses himself when discussing the key and how to transpose it before letting out a giant belch.
This is authentic Dimebag Darrell, and a must-watch for Pantera fans.
