Buddy Henderson ( né Harry Fisher Henderson ; October 20, 1943 – March 9, 2012), better known as " Bugs " Henderson , was an American blues guitarist. He was popular in Europe and from the 1970s, was based in Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas , where he was known as a local blues guitar legend.
158-516: Darrell Lance Abbott (August 20, 1966 – December 8, 2004), best known by his stage name Dimebag Darrell , was an American musician. He was the guitarist of the heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan , both of which he co-founded alongside his brother Vinnie Paul . He is considered by many to be one of the greatest metal guitarists of all time. A son of country music producer Jerry Abbott , Abbott began playing guitar at age 12, and Pantera released its debut album, Metal Magic (1983), when he
316-717: A groove metal sound to which Abbott's guitar playing was central. This sound was refined on Vulgar Display of Power (1992), and the group's third major-label record, Far Beyond Driven , debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 1994. Tensions within Pantera reduced its output after the release of The Great Southern Trendkill in 1996, and Reinventing the Steel (2000) was the band's final studio album before its acrimonious separation in 2003. Abbott subsequently formed Damageplan with his brother Vinnie Paul and released New Found Power ,
474-558: A staccato attack created by using a palm-muted technique on the rhythm guitar. Brief, abrupt and detached rhythmic cells are joined into rhythmic phrases with a distinctive, often jerky texture. These phrases are used to create rhythmic accompaniment and melodic figures called riffs , which help to establish thematic hooks . Heavy metal songs also use longer rhythmic figures such as whole note - or dotted quarter note-length chords in slow-tempo power ballads . The tempos in early heavy metal music tended to be "slow, even ponderous". By
632-405: A 2014 interview that he would drink "an entire bottle of Wild Turkey every night before a show to numb the pain", and he often interrupted the performances by ranting on stage. Due to the tensions within the band, recordings for Pantera's next album, The Great Southern Trendkill , were held separately: Darrell, Vinnie and Brown recorded at Chasin' Jason Studio (a studio Darrell had constructed in
790-418: A Beer Belly, It's a Gas Tank for My Love Machine". Gasoline once served as a support act for Drowning Pool . In 2006, "Country Western Transvestite Whore", a song that Abbott recorded with local Dallas musician Throbbin' Donnie Rodd, was released. It features Abbott on lead guitar and vocals. Other works by Abbott that have been posthumously released include "Dime's Blackout Society" (2010) and The Hitz (2017),
948-460: A Bullet ". Darrell was a friend of Nickelback's Chad Kroeger and had provided a solo for Nickelback's cover of " Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting " on the soundtrack to the 2003 film Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle . Darrell and Vinnie performed shows as Gasoline each New Year's Eve. Gasoline predominantly played covers of artists such as Ted Nugent and Pat Travers , but also composed original songs such as "Get Drunk Now" and "This Ain't
1106-483: A Rage". Abbott provided guest guitar solos for Anthrax on several occasions: "King Size" and "Riding Shotgun" from Stomp 442 (1995), "Inside Out" and "Born Again Idiot" from Volume 8: The Threat Is Real (1998), and "Strap It On" and "Cadillac Rock Box" from We've Come for You All (2003). Anthrax's Scott Ian referred to Abbott as the "sixth member" of the band due to his frequent appearances. Abbott also performed
1264-485: A barn in his backyard) while Anselmo recorded the vocals at Trent Reznor 's Nothing Studios in New Orleans . Abbott experimented with new guitars during the recording; he stated in 1996 that he wrote " Suicide Note Pt. 1 " the first time he used a twelve-string guitar which Washburn Guitars had sent to him. The recording also saw Abbott draw on riffs he had composed much earlier: he wrote the outro-solo to " Floods " in
1422-510: A big, big supporter of George Bush ." Darrell and Vinnie opened the Clubhouse, an all-nude strip club in north-west Dallas, in 1996. Vinnie's original idea was a rock-and-roll-themed golf course, with "a strip club at the nineteenth hole", but the construction of a golf course was prohibitively expensive. Under the Abbott brothers' ownership, the Clubhouse was patronized by many artists who toured in
1580-490: A contractual dispute, led to his departure in 1986. Pantera tried several replacement vocalists unsuccessfully during 1986 before discovering Phil Anselmo late that year. This new lineup briefly signed with Gold Mountain Records , but released Power Metal (1988) on Metal Magic. Abbott said Gold Mountain "wanted to change our style and make us sound like Bon Jovi , which is not quite up our alley". Anselmo did not write any of
1738-489: A drummer, a bassist, a rhythm guitarist, a lead guitarist and a singer, who may or may not be an instrumentalist. Keyboard instruments are sometimes used to enhance the fullness of the sound. Deep Purple 's Jon Lord played an overdriven Hammond organ . In 1970, John Paul Jones used a Moog synthesizer on Led Zeppelin III ; by the 1990s, synthesizers were used in "almost every subgenre of heavy metal". The electric guitar and
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#17328806950521896-558: A few minutes and said, 'Fuck this, I just want to jam.' I respect people that can read tablature and all that shit, but I just don't even have the patience to read the newspaper." Unlike many other heavy metal guitarists, Abbott made extensive use of the major third in his riffs and leads, which added dissonance to minor key tonalities . This was a Van Halen-inspired technique, as was his employment of symmetrical fingerings . Although Abbott had exceptional picking ability, he favored legato phrasing. His love of legato gave his playing
2054-545: A five-track EP. On December 8, 2004, Damageplan was performing at the Alrosa Villa nightclub in Columbus, Ohio . Nathan Gale, a deranged fan, rushed onto the stage as the band played the first song of its setlist and shot Abbott multiple times with a Beretta 92FS , a 9mm semi-automatic pistol. The band's head of security, Jeffrey "Mayhem" Thompson, then tackled Gale, but was fatally shot in the ensuing struggle. A fan, Nathan Bray,
2212-472: A fluid quality, and his powerful left-hand technique enabled the implementation of the symmetrical patterns in his lead licks . Abbott avoided using scales and modes in traditional fashions, and often used passing tones between scalar tones to add tension. These chromatic licks made up much of his playing. Regardless of the note or chord, Abbott played with a "Texas style", meaning a variety of techniques such as sliding , bending , palm muting , and use of
2370-519: A great player. I was inspired by him because I was a small young dude and he was a small young dude, too—and he was out there kickin' ass. He made me want to get out there and play." Abbott was a fan of the Southern rock band ZZ Top , and he was influenced by the band's guitarist and lead singer Billy Gibbons . He said in 1993: "I'm not a super blues player, but I was exposed to the Texas blues sound while I
2528-526: A guest solo on the title track of King Diamond 's Voodoo (1998) and on "Eyes of the South" (2004) by Premenishen, a band that featured Abbott's cousins Heather Manly and April Adkisson on bass and guitar, respectively. After Darrell's death, Vinnie granted Nickelback permission to use outtakes of Darrell's solos from the Vulgar Display of Power and Far Beyond Driven recordings on its tribute track " Side of
2686-454: A guitar won as a prize should stay with its owner and refused to buy it. Abbott instead sold the guitar to one of Blaze's bandmates. Blaze negotiated with his bandmate, and took possession of the ML in exchange for a Kramer Pacer . Blaze then replaced the standard ML hardware: he installed a custom Floyd Rose vibrato bridge and Bill Lawrence L-500XL pickups , and moved the stock DiMarzio pickup to
2844-473: A heavy metal direction. A few commentators – mainly American – argue for other groups, including Iron Butterfly , Steppenwolf , Blue Cheer , or Vanilla Fudge , as the first to play heavy metal. In 1968, the sound that would become known as heavy metal began to coalesce. That January, San Francisco band Blue Cheer released a cover of Eddie Cochran 's classic " Summertime Blues " as a part of their debut album, Vincebus Eruptum , and many consider it to be
3002-517: A heavy-metals blues sound". In January 1970, Lucian K. Truscott IV , reviewing Led Zeppelin II for the Village Voice , described the sound as "heavy" and made comparisons with Blue Cheer and Vanilla Fudge . Other early documented uses of the phrase are from reviews by critic Metal Mike Saunders . In the 12 November 1970 issue of Rolling Stone , he commented on an album put out the previous year by
3160-490: A little nasty sounding, a little gritty, but I liked it. I knew that with time I could make it my own sound, and it came around." Abbott released a signature amplifier, the Randall Warhead, in 1999. The goal was to replicate the sound of his own rig: a Randall RG-100 head, Furman PQ-3 parametric equalizer , MXR six-band graphic equalizer and MXR 126 flanger . He set his Furman EQ to boost the highs and lows while scooping
3318-428: A major influence on heavy metal since the genre's earliest days, and that metal's "most influential musicians have been guitar players who have also studied classical music. Their appropriation and adaptation of classical models sparked the development of a new kind of guitar virtuosity [and] changes in the harmonic and melodic language of heavy metal." In an article written for Grove Music Online , Walser stated that
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#17328806950523476-491: A massive, heavy sound from unison riffing between guitarist Eric Clapton and bassist Jack Bruce , as well as Ginger Baker 's double bass drumming. Their first two LPs – Fresh Cream (1966) and Disraeli Gears (1967) – are regarded as essential prototypes for the future style of heavy metal. The Jimi Hendrix Experience 's debut album, Are You Experienced (1967), was also highly influential. Hendrix 's virtuosic technique would be emulated by many metal guitarists, and
3634-423: A mirror holding the guitar while wearing Ace Frehley -style makeup, though he was unable to play the instrument at the time. Jerry learned Kiss songs on guitar in order to teach Darrell how to play them. Darrell also learned from country musicians who recorded at Jerry's studio, such as Bugs Henderson . Vinnie had begun playing the drums before Darrell received his first guitar. Darrell had previously tried to play
3792-659: A party without limits ... [T]he bulk of the music is stylized and formulaic." Music critics have often deemed metal lyrics juvenile and banal, and others have objected to what they see as advocacy of misogyny and the occult. During the 1980s, the Parents Music Resource Center petitioned the U.S. Congress to regulate the popular music industry due to what the group asserted were objectionable lyrics, particularly those in heavy metal songs. Andrew Cope stated that claims that heavy metal lyrics are misogynistic are "clearly misguided" as these critics have "overlook[ed]
3950-467: A photoshoot for the August 1993 issue of Guitar World along with Frehley, Abbott asked Frehley to sign an autograph near the tattoo. Abbott then had the signature tattooed. No musician other than Frehley exerted more of an influence on Abbott than Eddie Van Halen . Abbott stated that his background mirrored Van Halen's as both he and Van Halen were younger brothers who first played drums before moving on to
4108-471: A six-month period. ... When he came out, he could play, like, ' Eruption ' and ' Crazy Train ' ". Abbott adopted the stage name "Diamond Darrell", in reference to the Kiss song " Black Diamond ". Inspired by Kiss, Van Halen and Judas Priest, Pantera originally had a glam metal style and was image-conscious: the members wore spandex , makeup and hairspray when on stage. The band signed to Metal Magic Records, which
4266-478: A smoke bomb so he could make the guitar smoke like his biggest musical influence Ace Frehley. In 1982, Abbott won a maroon Dean ML at a guitar contest in Dallas. Unbeknownst to Abbott, his father had bought him a sunburst ML shortly before the contest. Nearing driving age and seeking to purchase a Pontiac Firebird , Abbott attempted to sell the maroon ML to his friend Buddy Blaze, a luthier and musician. Blaze felt that
4424-419: A spirit of "affectionate rivalry". Heavy metal "demands the subordination of the voice" to the overall sound of the band. Reflecting metal's roots in the 1960s counterculture, an "explicit display of emotion" is required from the vocals as a sign of authenticity. Critic Simon Frith claims that the metal singer's "tone of voice" is more important than the lyrics. The prominent role of the bass is also key to
4582-619: A ten-year contract with Washburn Guitars . With Washburn, he played various signature guitars modeled after the ML, such as the Dime 333, Culprit and Stealth. When his contract with Washburn expired in 2004, he became the main endorsee of the re-opened Dean. Abbott's murder came shortly before the Dean contract was set to begin. Abbott had designed the Dean Razorback and Razorback V in the months prior to his death. Dean also posthumously released replicas of
4740-411: A tense sound. Abbott experimented with alternate tunings throughout his career. Early on, his guitar was tuned down more than a quarter step, similar to Van Halen I and Van Halen II tuning. On Cowboys From Hell (1990), he utilized drop D tuning , and beginning with Vulgar Display of Power (1992) he tuned his guitar down a whole step, which became his main tuning by the release of Reinventing
4898-415: A thick, monumental sound characterized by distorted guitars, extended guitar solos , emphatic beats and loudness . In 1968, three of the genre's most famous pioneers – British bands Led Zeppelin , Black Sabbath and Deep Purple – were founded. Though they came to attract wide audiences, they were often derided by critics. Several American bands modified heavy metal into more accessible forms during
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5056-789: A trippy, distorted haze". During the late 1960s, many psychedelic singers, such as Arthur Brown , began to create outlandish, theatrical, and often macabre performances that influenced many metal acts. The American psychedelic rock band Coven , who opened for early heavy metal influencers such as Vanilla Fudge and the Yardbirds, portrayed themselves as practitioners of witchcraft or black magic , using dark – Satanic or occult – imagery in their lyrics, album art and live performances, which consisted of elaborate, theatrical " Satanic rites ". Coven's 1969 debut album, Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls , featured imagery of skulls, black masses , inverted crosses , and Satan worship, and both
5214-503: Is considered vital. In his book, Metalheads , psychologist Jeffrey Arnett refers to heavy metal concerts as "the sensory equivalent of war". Following the lead set by Jimi Hendrix , Cream and the Who , early heavy metal acts such as Blue Cheer set new benchmarks for volume. As Blue Cheer's Dick Peterson put it, "All we knew was we wanted more power." A 1977 review of a Motörhead concert noted how "excessive volume in particular figured into
5372-426: Is emphatic, with deliberate stresses. Weinstein observes that the wide array of sonic effects available to metal drummers enables the "rhythmic pattern to take on a complexity within its elemental drive and insistency". In many heavy metal songs, the main groove is characterized by short, two- or three-note rhythmic figures – generally made up of eighth or 16th notes . These rhythmic figures are usually performed with
5530-558: Is ignored and replaced by authoritative delivery of the player's own concept of what should happen". Pantera released Projects in the Jungle and I Am the Night in 1984 and 1985, respectively. Both albums followed on in the glam metal style, and were comparable to Shout at the Devil -era Mötley Crüe , although I Am the Night had a slightly heavier sound than previous releases. Around this time,
5688-908: Is so easy—all you've got to do is tune your guitar to an open chord and jump around." Like The Great Southern Trendkill , Reinventing the Steel peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 . Pantera were in Ireland , set to begin a European tour, on September 11, 2001. Due to the September 11 attacks , the tour was canceled and the members returned to Texas, where they agreed to take a short hiatus. In March 2002, Down released its second record, Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow , which featured Brown on bass. Two months later, Superjoint Ritual —another of Anselmo's bands—released its debut album, Use Once and Destroy . The Abbotts believed that Pantera would regroup in 2003, after
5846-557: Is speculation as to who started the phenomenon. Attendees of metal concerts do not dance in the usual sense. It has been argued that this is due to the music's largely male audience and "extreme heterosexualist ideology". Two primary body movements used are headbanging and an arm thrust that is both a sign of appreciation and a rhythmic gesture. The performance of air guitar is popular among metal fans both at concerts and listening to records at home. According to Deena Weinstein , thrash metal concerts have two elements that are not part of
6004-485: Is traditionally characterized by loud distorted guitars, emphatic rhythms, dense bass-and-drum sound and vigorous vocals. Heavy metal subgenres variously emphasize, alter or omit one or more of these attributes. In a 1988 article, The New York Times critic Jon Pareles wrote, "In the taxonomy of popular music, heavy metal is a major subspecies of hard-rock—the breed with less syncopation , less blues, more showmanship and more brute force." The typical band lineup includes
6162-439: The 13th Floor Elevators epitomized the frenetic, heavier, darker, and more psychotic psychedelic rock sound known as acid rock, a sound characterized by droning guitar riffs, amplified feedback, and guitar distortion, while the 13th Floor Elevators' sound in particular featured yelping vocals and "occasionally demented" lyrics. Frank Hoffman noted that "[Psychedelic rock] was sometimes referred to as 'acid rock'. The latter label
6320-714: The Aeolian and Phrygian modes . Harmonically speaking, this means the genre typically incorporates modal chord progressions such as the Aeolian progressions I-♭VI-♭VII, I-♭VII-(♭VI), or I-♭VI-IV-♭VII and Phrygian progressions implying the relation between I and ♭II (I-♭II-I, I-♭II-III, or I-♭II-VII for example). Tense-sounding chromatic or tritone relationships are used in a number of metal chord progressions. In addition to using modal harmonic relationships, heavy metal also uses " pentatonic and blues-derived features". The tritone, an interval spanning three whole tones – such as C to F# –
6478-581: The Billboard 200 and had sold a modest 160,000 copies by December. Damageplan spent most of 2004 on its Devastation Across the Nation tour. To rebuild a fanbase, the band toured nightclubs across the country. The members had planned to record a follow-up album, which did not materialize due to Abbott's murder at a show in Columbus, Ohio, on December 8, 2004. The Abbott brothers listened to country singer David Allan Coe while growing up as their parents were fans of
Dimebag Darrell - Misplaced Pages Continue
6636-535: The U.S. Music Corporation . Abbott subsequently formed a partnership with Krank Amplifiers, a relatively small supplier. He used the Krank Revolution, a tube amplifier . Abbott also invested in the company and designed an amplifier named the Krankenstein; he approved the final revision of the Krankenstein just days before his murder. Abbott helped design many other products. With Dunlop Manufacturing , he designed
6794-458: The minor third , major third , perfect fourth , diminished fifth or minor sixth . Most power chords are also played with a consistent finger arrangement that can be slid easily up and down the fretboard . Heavy metal is usually based on riffs created with three main harmonic traits: modal scale progressions, tritone and chromatic progressions, and the use of pedal points . Traditional heavy metal tends to employ modal scales, in particular
6952-412: The neck ", as he described, was suited to competing in guitar contests, it often did not benefit a song's composition. "Slaughtered" from Far Beyond Driven originally had a slow, melodic solo, but Abbott removed it after noting that it disrupted the song's momentum. Dimebag's first guitar was a Hohner HG-430LP-S Les Paul, and for his junior high school talent show he removed the neck pickup and inserted
7110-443: The perfect fifth , though an octave may be added as a doubling of the root . When power chords are played on the lower strings at high volumes and with distortion, additional low-frequency sounds are created, which add to the "weight of the sound" and create an effect of "overwhelming power". Although the perfect fifth interval is the most common basis for the power chord, power chords are also based on different intervals such as
7268-406: The whammy bar and effects pedal to produce an idiosyncratic sound. One of the most distinctive features of Abbott's guitar playing was his use of harmonics to create a squealing sound, which he picked up from Gibbons. Unsatisfied with standard techniques, Abbott often used dyads in place of traditional power chords . This added texture to his riffs and, when played with distortion , created
7426-485: The "1980s brought on ... the widespread adaptation of chord progressions and virtuosic practices from 18th-century European models, especially Bach and Antonio Vivaldi , by influential guitarists such as Ritchie Blackmore , Marty Friedman , Jason Becker , Uli Jon Roth , Eddie Van Halen , Randy Rhoads and Yngwie Malmsteen ." Kurt Bachmann of Believer has stated that "if done correctly, metal and classical fit quite well together. Classical and metal are probably
7584-410: The "heavy crunch sound in heavy metal ... [is created by] palm muting " the strings with the picking hand and using distortion. Palm muting creates a tighter, more precise sound and it emphasizes the low end. The lead role of the guitar in heavy metal often collides with the traditional "frontman" or bandleader role of the vocalist, creating a musical tension as the two "contend for dominance" in
7742-434: The "holiest of heavy metal communions". The metal scene has been characterized as a "subculture of alienation" with its own code of authenticity. This code puts several demands on performers: they must appear both completely devoted to their music and loyal to the subculture that supports it; they must appear uninterested in mainstream appeal and radio hits; and they must never " sell out ". Deena Weinstein stated that for
7900-555: The "punch and grind" characteristic. Thrash metal guitar tone has scooped mid-frequencies and tightly compressed sound with multiple bass frequencies. Guitar solos are "an essential element of the heavy metal code ... that underscores the significance of the guitar" to the genre. Most heavy metal songs "feature at least one guitar solo", which is "a primary means through which the heavy metal performer expresses virtuosity". Some exceptions are nu metal and grindcore bands, which tend to omit guitar solos. With rhythm guitar parts,
8058-400: The 1970s: the raw, sleazy sound and shock rock of Alice Cooper and Kiss ; the blues-rooted rock of Aerosmith ; and the flashy guitar leads and party rock of Van Halen . During the mid-1970s, Judas Priest helped spur the genre's evolution by discarding much of its blues influence, while Motörhead introduced a punk rock sensibility and an increasing emphasis on speed. Beginning in
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#17328806950528216-510: The 1980s and 1990s, heavy metal hair "symbolised the hate, angst and disenchantment of a generation that seemingly never felt at home", according to journalist Nader Rahman. Long hair gave members of the metal community "the power they needed to rebel against nothing in general". The classic uniform of heavy metal fans consists of light-colored, ripped, frayed or torn blue jeans, black T-shirts, boots, and black leather or denim jackets. Deena Weinstein wrote, "T-shirts are generally emblazoned with
8374-503: The Abbott brothers began listening to bands such as Metallica and Slayer . Darrell was particularly taken by Metallica's Ride the Lightning (1984). Glaze was unhappy with the Abbott brothers' desire to move towards a heavier sound; he later said he "didn't want to go that heavy. I didn't like it as well if the guitar was the main thing, like the Metallica songs." This conflict, along with
8532-542: The Agora Ballroom in Dallas , in which Dean Zelinsky , founder of Dean Guitars , was one of the judges. Abbott's mother accompanied him to the club because he was not old enough to enter on his own. He won the competition; Zelinsky recalled that "[Abbott] blew everyone away." Abbott won many other guitar contests in the area, and was eventually asked not to compete and instead judge the competitions so others could win. Pantera
8690-461: The British band Humble Pie : " Safe as Yesterday Is , their first American release, proved that Humble Pie could be boring in lots of different ways. Here they were a noisy, unmelodic, heavy metal-leaden shit-rock band with the loud and noisy parts beyond doubt. There were a couple of nice songs ... and one monumental pile of refuse." He described the band's latest, self-titled release as "more of
8848-416: The British bands Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath , with American commentators tending to favour Led Zeppelin and British commentators tending to favour Black Sabbath, though many give equal credit to both. Deep Purple , the third band in what is sometimes considered the "unholy trinity" of heavy metal along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, fluctuated between many rock styles until late 1969 when they took
9006-697: The British record label Earache Records , in an "unsuccessful attempt to prosecute the label for obscenity". In some predominantly Muslim countries, heavy metal has been officially denounced as a threat to traditional values, and in countries such as Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon and Malaysia, there have been incidents of heavy metal musicians and fans being arrested and incarcerated. In 1997, the Egyptian police jailed many young metal fans, and they were accused of "devil worship" and blasphemy after police found metal recordings during searches of their homes. In 2013, Malaysia banned Lamb of God from performing in their country, on
9164-471: The Dean from Hell. Abbott was praised for his instrumental tone and was included in Guitar Player ' s list of "The 50 Greatest Tones of All Time". Abbott used solid-state Randall amplifiers for most of his career; he remarked in the liner notes for Cowboys from Hell : "Gotta have that Randall Crunch!" He had won his first Randall amplifier in a guitar contest; he said in a 1993 interview it "was
9322-683: The Dimebag Cry Baby from Hell, a wah-wah pedal , and the Dime Distortion, a distortion pedal . He also designed a signature pickup with Seymour Duncan titled the Dimebucker, which was based on the Bill Lawrence pickups that he used in most of his guitars. Dean Zelinsky of Dean said in 2010 that Abbott's death was a "bigger loss than we'll ever know. ... I'm very proud of the work I did with him, but who knows what he would have accomplished if he
9480-643: The Great Southern Cowboys' Vulgar Hits! , on September 23, 2003. Abbott was dejected by the separation of Pantera; he felt that all he had worked for had been "ripped out from under [him]". As continuing Pantera without Anselmo likely would have resulted in a lengthy and expensive legal battle regarding the ownership of the "Pantera" brand, the Abbott brothers decided to form a new band. They recorded demos at Darrell's backyard studio in February 2003. Patrick Lachman of Halford joined as vocalist and Bob Kakaha
9638-528: The Shuffle Kings and later a band that was eponymously named. Henderson played with blues musicians such as B. B. King , Eric Clapton , Muddy Waters , and Stevie Ray Vaughan , as well as with rhythm and blues saxophonist Don Wise and rock guitarist Ted Nugent . Henderson died just four days after a benefit concert in his name from complications of liver cancer , aged 68, in March 2012. The performers at
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#17328806950529796-542: The Steel (2000). He also used drop D down one step, down 1 ½ steps and drop D down 1 ½ steps tunings. Down 1 ½ steps tuning was prevalent on The Great Southern Trendkill (1996) and was Abbott's main tuning on New Found Power (2004). Three of Abbott's solos were ranked in Guitar World ' s "100 Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time": " Walk " at No. 57; " Cemetery Gates " at No. 35; and " Floods " at No. 19. Despite his virtuosity, Abbott said that while "jerking off all over
9954-526: The album A Long Time Comin' by U.S. band Electric Flag : "Nobody who's been listening to Mike Bloomfield —either talking or playing—in the last few years could have expected this. This is the new soul music, the synthesis of white blues and heavy metal rock." In the 7 September 1968 edition of the Seattle Daily Times , reviewer Susan Schwartz wrote that the Jimi Hendrix Experience "has
10112-418: The album artwork and the band's live performances marked the first appearances in rock music of the sign of the horns , which would later become an important gesture in heavy metal culture. Coven's lyrical and thematic influences on heavy metal were quickly overshadowed by the darker and heavier sounds of Black Sabbath . Critics disagree over who can be thought of as the first heavy metal band. Most credit
10270-526: The album's most successful single, " Purple Haze ", is identified by some as the first heavy metal hit. Vanilla Fudge , whose first album also came out in 1967, has been called "one of the few American links between psychedelia and what soon became heavy metal," and the band has been cited as an early American heavy metal group. On their self-titled debut album, Vanilla Fudge created "loud, heavy, slowed-down arrangements" of contemporary hit songs, blowing these songs up to "epic proportions" and "bathing them in
10428-620: The area, such as Black Sabbath, Kiss and Metallica, as well as NASCAR drivers, professional golfers, and members of the Dallas Cowboys and the Dallas Stars (whose fight song , " Puck Off ", was written and produced by Pantera). After the Dallas Stars won the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals , the Abbott brothers hosted a party for the team at Vinnie's house. Vinnie later stated that the Stanley Cup
10586-434: The audience for whom they're playing – engage in headbanging , which involves rhythmically beating time with the head, often emphasized by long hair. The il cornuto , or "devil horns", hand gesture was popularized by vocalist Ronnie James Dio during his time with the bands Black Sabbath and Dio . Although Gene Simmons of Kiss claims to have been the first to make the gesture on the 1977 Love Gun album cover, there
10744-454: The back cover of Van Halen II , to be included in the casket. A few weeks prior to his death, Abbott had met Van Halen and asked him for a replica of the Bumblebee. Van Halen said at the funeral: "Dime was an original and only an original deserves the original." After Vinnie Paul's death in 2018, he was buried next to Carolyn and Darrell, also in a Kiss Kasket. In late 2020, a protective fence
10902-459: The band spent most of the 1990s touring; Abbott gained a reputation as a wild figure on tour and a heavy drinker. Pantera recorded its second major-label album in the space of two months. Released on February 25, 1992, Vulgar Display of Power was a refinement of the groove metal sound. The band had sought to create a heavier album than Cowboys from Hell , as Anselmo fully embraced a hardcore -inspired shouted vocal delivery. Abbott composed most of
11060-461: The band we've got a chance to make those riffs fully happen instead of having some gay singer over the top of them!" After the release of Power Metal , Pantera formed a relationship with Walter O'Brien and Andy Gould of Concrete Management . As Concrete managed other bands that were signed to Metal Blade Records , Gould contacted Brian Slagel of Metal Blade and asked him to sign Pantera. The $ 75,000 (equivalent to $ 174,911 in 2023) requested for
11218-426: The band's impact". Weinstein makes the case that in the same way that melody is the main element of pop and rhythm is the main focus of house music , powerful sound, timbre and volume are the key elements of metal. She argues that the loudness is designed to "sweep the listener into the sound" and to provide a "shot of youthful vitality". Heavy metal performers tended to be almost exclusively male until at least
11376-402: The band's only album, in 2004. Other works by Abbott included a collaboration with David Allan Coe titled Rebel Meets Rebel (2006) and numerous guest guitar solos for bands such as Anthrax . While on tour with Damageplan, Abbott was shot and killed by a fan during a performance at the Alrosa Villa nightclub in Columbus, Ohio on December 8, 2004. Three others were shot and killed before
11534-629: The band's performance at the Dallas Starplex Amphitheatre and was clinically dead for "four to five minutes". He recovered quickly and performed at the band's next show in San Antonio two days afterward, but the incident created a lasting rift within the band. Anselmo had released NOLA , the debut album of one of his side projects Down , in 1995, and supported the album with a 13-show tour. The other Pantera members were originally unperturbed by Anselmo's side projects; Abbott explained at
11692-572: The bass as a lead instrument, an approach popularized by Metallica 's Cliff Burton with his heavy emphasis on bass solos and use of chords while playing the bass in the early 1980s. Lemmy of Motörhead often played overdriven power chords in his bass lines. The essence of heavy metal drumming is creating a loud, constant beat for the band using the "trifecta of speed, power, and precision". Heavy metal drumming "requires an exceptional amount of endurance", and drummers have to develop "considerable speed, coordination, and dexterity ... to play
11850-466: The blues rock drumming style started out largely as simple shuffle beats on small kits, drummers began using a more muscular, complex and amplified approach to match and be heard against the increasingly loud guitar. Vocalists similarly modified their technique and increased their reliance on amplification, often becoming more stylized and dramatic. In terms of sheer volume, especially in live performance, The Who's "bigger-louder-wall-of- Marshalls " approach
12008-429: The components of the term mean in " hippiespeak ": "heavy" is roughly synonymous with "potent" or "profound", and "metal" designates a certain type of mood, grinding and weighted as with metal. The word "heavy" in this sense was a basic element of beatnik and later countercultural hippie slang , and references to "heavy music" – typically slower, more amplified variations of standard pop fare – were already common by
12166-632: The concert's proceeds go towards the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund. Performers at Dimebash events have included artists such as Dave Grohl , Kerry King , Robb Flynn , Tom Morello , and Serj Tankian . Heavy metal music Heavy metal (or simply metal ) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock , psychedelic rock and acid rock , heavy metal bands developed
12324-461: The development of groove metal in the 1990s. Although his father was a country music producer and songwriter, Abbott's primary musical influences were heavy metal acts such as Black Sabbath , Iron Maiden , Judas Priest , Kiss and Van Halen . Ace Frehley of Kiss inspired him to play guitar. He was a member of the Kiss Army and had a portrait of Frehley tattooed on his chest in 1992. While at
12482-458: The drums; Vinnie later said: "I just got better than him and wouldn't let him play them anymore." The Abbott brothers' first jam session consisted of six hours of " Smoke on the Water ". They took inspiration from Alex and Eddie Van Halen , and Vinnie said in a 2016 interview that he and Darrell were "inseparable" after they began playing music together. At age 14, Abbott entered a guitar contest at
12640-536: The emergence of an intense, exclusionary and strongly masculine subculture. While the metal fan base is largely young, white, male and blue-collar, the group is "tolerant of those outside its core demographic base who follow its codes of dress, appearance, and behavior". Identification with the subculture is strengthened not only by the group experience of concert-going and shared elements of fashion, but also by contributing to metal magazines and, more recently, websites. Attending live concerts in particular has been called
12798-651: The era. Bands like The Rolling Stones and The Yardbirds developed blues rock by recording covers of classic blues songs, often speeding up the tempos . As they experimented with the music, the U.K. blues-based bands – and in turn the U.S. acts they influenced – developed what would become the hallmarks of heavy metal (in particular, the loud, distorted guitar sound). The Kinks played a major role in popularising this sound with their 1964 hit " You Really Got Me ". In addition to The Kinks' Dave Davies , other guitarists such as The Who 's Pete Townshend and The Yardbirds' Jeff Beck were experimenting with feedback. Where
12956-418: The fans themselves, the code promotes "opposition to established authority, and separateness from the rest of society". Musician and filmmaker Rob Zombie observed, "Most of the kids who come to my shows seem like really imaginative kids with a lot of creative energy they don't know what to do with" and that metal is "outsider music for outsiders. Nobody wants to be the weird kid; you just somehow end up being
13114-486: The first record, wishing and dreaming. That ain't what we're about." The lead single from Far Beyond Driven , " I'm Broken ", was inspired by Anselmo's chronic back pain. To treat the pain during the tour supporting Far Beyond Driven , Anselmo began heavily consuming alcohol, painkillers and ultimately heroin . He would travel on his own tour bus and isolate himself from the other band members until twenty or thirty minutes before they were due to perform. Anselmo recalled in
13272-864: The first true heavy metal recording. The same month, Steppenwolf released their self-titled debut album , on which the track " Born to Be Wild " refers to "heavy metal thunder" in describing a motorcycle. In July, the Jeff Beck Group , whose leader had preceded Page as The Yardbirds' guitarist, released its debut record, Truth , which featured some of the "most molten, barbed, downright funny noises of all time", breaking ground for generations of metal ax-slingers. In September, Page's new band, Led Zeppelin , made its live debut in Denmark (but were billed as The New Yardbirds). The Beatles ' self-titled double album , released in November, included " Helter Skelter ", then one of
13430-638: The foundation of heavy metal and greatly influential in the transformation of acid rock into heavy metal. Bugs Henderson Henderson was born in Palm Springs, California and spent his early life in Tyler, Texas , where he formed a band called the Sensores at age 16, and later joined Mouse and the Traps . In Dallas–Fort Worth during the early 1970s, he was lead guitarist for the blues/rock band Nitzinger before forming
13588-413: The general population. For many artists and bands, visual imagery plays a large role in heavy metal. In addition to its sound and lyrics, a heavy metal band's image is expressed in album cover art, logos, stage sets, clothing, design of instruments and music videos . Down-the-back long hair is the "most crucial distinguishing feature of metal fashion". Originally adopted from the hippie subculture, by
13746-517: The ground opening up and little dwarves coming out riding dragons! You know, like bad Dio records." Heavy metal's quintessential guitar style, which is built around distortion-heavy riffs and power chords, traces its roots to early 1950s Memphis blues guitarists such as Joe Hill Louis , Willie Johnson and particularly Pat Hare , who captured a "grittier, nastier, more ferocious electric guitar sound" on records such as James Cotton 's " Cotton Crop Blues " (1954). Other early influences include
13904-429: The grounds that the "band's lyrics could be interpreted as being religiously insensitive" and blasphemous. Some people consider heavy metal music to be a leading factor for mental health disorders, and that heavy metal fans are more likely to suffer poor mental health, but a study from 2009 suggests that this is not true and that fans of heavy metal music suffer from poor mental health at a similar or lower rate compared to
14062-399: The group sporadically recorded from 1999 to 2003. The resulting album, Rebel Meets Rebel , was released on May 2, 2006, on Vinnie's Big Vin Records . Megan Frye of AllMusic stated Rebel Meets Rebel is "groundbreaking in that it will please fans of both country and metal because the music is simultaneously both styles – it's never a fusion, they simply exist together". In 1992, Abbott and
14220-527: The guest list included artists such as Eddie Van Halen , Zakk Wylde , Corey Taylor , Jerry Cantrell and Dino Cazares . Abbott was buried alongside his mother Carolyn at the Moore Memorial Gardens cemetery in Arlington, Texas. Gene Simmons donated a Kiss Kasket for the burial, and Eddie Van Halen donated his original black-and-yellow-striped 1979 Charvel "Bumblebee" guitar, which was featured on
14378-428: The guitar due to competition from their elder brothers on drums. Another influence was Randy Rhoads . Abbott said in 1994: "To me, Eddie Van Halen was heavy rock and roll, but Randy was heavy metal." He discovered double tracking leads through Rhoads. In numerous interviews, Abbott credited Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath for inspiring his guitar riffs. Abbott also said Def Leppard 's original guitarist Pete Willis "was
14536-413: The harmonic analysis done by metal players and teachers is "often very sophisticated". In the study of heavy metal chord structures, it has been concluded that "heavy metal music has proved to be far more complicated" than other music researchers had realized. Robert Walser stated that, alongside blues and R&B, the "assemblage of disparate musical styles known ... as ' classical music '" has been
14694-417: The heaviest album ever to debut at No. 1. Before the release, the band was expected to follow the lead of Metallica's eponymous album by taking a more commercially-friendly approach. Instead, Pantera wanted an even heavier work than Vulgar Display of Power . Abbott said in 1994: "We're into topping ourselves. Most bands come out with a heavy record, then it gets lighter and lighter. You're stuck listening to
14852-605: The heaviest-sounding songs ever released by a major band. The Pretty Things ' rock opera S.F. Sorrow , released in December, featured "proto heavy metal" songs such as "Old Man Going" and "I See You". Iron Butterfly 's 1968 song " In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida " is sometimes described as an example of the transition between acid rock and heavy metal or the turning point in which acid rock became "heavy metal", and both Iron Butterfly's 1968 album In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida and Blue Cheer's 1968 album Vincebus Eruptum have been described as laying
15010-403: The influence of 'art traditions.' An example is Walser's linkage of heavy metal music with the ideologies and even some of the performance practices of nineteenth-century Romanticism . However, it would be clearly wrong to claim that traditions such as blues, rock, heavy metal, rap or dance music derive primarily from "art music.'" According to David Hatch and Stephen Millward, Black Sabbath and
15168-605: The intricate patterns" used in heavy metal. A characteristic metal drumming technique is the cymbal choke , which consists of striking a cymbal and then immediately silencing it by grabbing it with the other hand (or, in some cases, the same striking hand), producing a burst of sound. The metal drum setup is generally much larger than those employed in other forms of rock music. Black metal, death metal and some "mainstream metal" bands "all depend upon double-kicks and blast beats ". In live performance, loudness – an "onslaught of sound", in sociologist Deena Weinstein 's description –
15326-423: The late 1950s instrumentals of Link Wray , particularly " Rumble " (1958); the early 1960s surf rock of Dick Dale , including " Let's Go Trippin' " (1961) and " Misirlou " (1962); and The Kingsmen 's version of " Louie Louie " (1963), which became a garage rock standard. However, the genre's direct lineage begins in the mid-1960s. American blues music was a major influence on the early British rockers of
15484-580: The late 1970s, bands in the new wave of British heavy metal such as Iron Maiden and Saxon followed in a similar vein. By the end of the decade, heavy metal fans became known as " metalheads " or " headbangers ". The lyrics of some metal genres became associated with aggression and machismo , an issue that has at times led to accusations of misogyny. During the 1980s, glam metal became popular with groups such as Bon Jovi , Mötley Crüe and Poison . Meanwhile, however, underground scenes produced an array of more aggressive styles: thrash metal broke into
15642-438: The late 1970s, however, metal bands were employing a wide variety of tempos, and as recently as the 2000s, metal tempos range from slow ballad tempos (quarter note = 60 beats per minute ) to extremely fast blast beat tempos (quarter note = 350 beats per minute). One of the signatures of the genre is the guitar power chord. In technical terms, the power chord is relatively simple: it involves just one main interval , generally
15800-471: The logos or other visual representations of favorite metal bands." In the 1980s, a range of sources – from punk rock and goth music to horror films – influenced metal fashion. Many metal performers of the 1970s and 1980s used radically shaped and brightly colored instruments to enhance their stage appearance. Fashion and personal style was especially important for glam metal bands of the era. Performers typically wore long, dyed, hairspray-teased hair (hence
15958-427: The lyrics for Power Metal , and the band was still in the process of distancing themselves from glam metal, but the album evidenced a stylistic change. A retrospective AllMusic album review by Bradley Torreano said Abbott's "speedy riffs" were one of the "more charming elements" of the band's sound. Brown said in a 1988 interview that "Darrell has always been chunking those riffs out from the start. But now with Phil in
16116-414: The mainstream with bands such as Metallica , Slayer , Megadeth and Anthrax , while other extreme subgenres such as death metal and black metal became – and remain – subcultural phenomena. Since the mid-1990s, popular styles have expanded the definition of the genre. These include groove metal and nu metal , the latter of which often incorporates elements of grunge and hip-hop . Heavy metal
16274-465: The man upstairs ourselves." In 1995, Abbott bought a house with Haney in Dalworthington Gardens, Texas , a short distance from his hometown Arlington. Abbott kept a pet goat on the residence, and dyed its goatee like his own. He was remembered by his neighbors as approachable. One neighbor said he "was a hick with an attitude, and I say that respectfully. We'd talk conservative politics. He was
16432-444: The members spending most of their downtime in each other's hotel rooms consuming drugs, rather than following their normal routines as they did when recording at Pantego Sound. They mixed the album at Dallas Sound Labs, which was close to their homes. Far Beyond Driven was released on March 15, 1994, on EastWest Records . It sold 186,000 copies in its first week to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 , and has since been described as
16590-432: The metal sound, and the interplay of bass and guitar is a central element. The bass provides the low-end sound crucial to making the music "heavy". The bass plays a "more important role in heavy metal than in any other genre of rock". Metal basslines vary widely in complexity, from holding down a low pedal point as a foundation to doubling complex riffs and licks along with the lead or rhythm guitars. Some bands feature
16748-485: The mid-1960s, such as in reference to Vanilla Fudge . Iron Butterfly 's debut album, which was released in early 1968, was titled Heavy . The first use of "heavy metal" in a song lyric is in reference to a motorcycle in the Steppenwolf song " Born to Be Wild ", also released that year: "I like smoke and lightning / Heavy metal thunder / Racin' with the wind / And the feelin' that I'm under". An early documented use of
16906-462: The mid-1980s, with some exceptions such as Girlschool . However, by the 2010s, women were making more of an impact, and PopMatters' Craig Hayes argues that metal "clearly empowers women". In the power metal and symphonic metal subgenres, there has been a sizable number of bands that have had women as the lead singers, such as Nightwish , Delain and Within Temptation . The rhythm in metal songs
17064-452: The mid-Seventies". "The term 'heavy metal' is self-defeating," remarked Kiss bassist Gene Simmons . "When I think of heavy metal, I've always thought of elves and evil dwarves and evil princes and princesses. A lot of the Maiden and Priest records were real metal records. I sure as hell don't think Metallica 's metal, or Guns N' Roses is metal, or Kiss is metal. It just doesn't deal with
17222-605: The mids, and he used both the Furman EQ and MXR EQ to increase the gain to the Randall's front end. Abbott also used a Digitech whammy pedal , a Korg DT-7 chromatic tuner and a Rocktron Hush IIC noise gate . The noise gate allowed him to control the feedback associated with high levels of gain, and to create the distinctive holes of silence in his playing. When Abbott's endorsement deal with Washburn ended, his deal with Randall also ended, as Randall and Washburn both were subsidiaries of
17380-502: The more extreme side of the psychedelic rock genre, frequently containing a loud, improvised, and heavily distorted, guitar-centered sound. Acid rock has been described as psychedelic rock at its "rawest and most intense", emphasizing the heavier qualities associated with both the positive and negative extremes of the psychedelic experience rather than only the idyllic side of psychedelia. In contrast to more idyllic or whimsical pop psychedelic rock, American acid rock garage bands such as
17538-474: The neck. He also repainted the guitar, from its original maroon to blue-and-black with a lightning bolt finish. Blaze returned the ML to Abbott in 1987, who was initially unaware that it was the same guitar he won as a prize. It subsequently became Abbott's signature guitar and was later dubbed the "Dean from Hell". After the release of Cowboys from Hell , Abbott signed an endorsement deal with Dean Guitars . Dean went out of business in 1994 and Abbott then signed
17696-530: The nickname "hair metal"); makeup such as lipstick and eyeliner; gaudy clothing, including leopard-skin-printed shirts or vests and tight denim, leather or spandex pants; and accessories such as headbands and jewelry. Pioneered by the heavy metal act X Japan in the late 1980s, bands in the Japanese movement known as visual kei , which includes many non-metal groups, emphasize elaborate costumes, hair and makeup. When performing live, many metal musicians – as well as
17854-456: The numerous heavy metal bands that they inspired have concentrated lyrically "on dark and depressing subject matter to an extent hitherto unprecedented in any form of pop music." They take as an example Black Sabbath's second album, Paranoid (1970), which "included songs dealing with personal trauma—' Paranoid ' and ' Fairies Wear Boots ' (which described the unsavoury side effects of drug-taking)—as well as those confronting wider issues, such as
18012-542: The other Pantera members collaborated with Rob Halford on a track titled "Light Comes Out of Black", which was released on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer soundtrack . Abbott recorded the song "Caged in a Rage", on which he performed lead vocals and guitar, under his own name. It was included on the soundtrack to the 1996 film Supercop . Adam Greenberg of AllMusic said Abbott sounded "oddly similar to Rob Zombie " on "Caged in
18170-431: The other metal genres: moshing and stage diving , which "were imported from the punk/hardcore subculture ". Weinstein states that moshing participants bump and jostle each other as they move in a circle in an area called the "pit" near the stage. Stage divers climb onto the stage with the band and then jump "back into the audience". It has been argued that heavy metal has outlasted many other rock genres largely due to
18328-430: The overwhelming evidence that suggests otherwise". Music critic Robert Christgau called metal "an expressive mode [that] it sometimes seems will be with us for as long as ordinary white boys fear girls, pity themselves, and are permitted to rage against a world they'll never beat". Heavy metal artists have had to defend their lyrics in front of the U.S. Senate and in court. In 1985, Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider
18486-566: The past 25 years by VH1 . Darrell Lance Abbott was born in Grand Prairie, Texas , on August 20, 1966, the second son to Carolyn and Jerry Abbott , a country music producer. He had an older brother, Vincent Paul Abbott , born 1964. Abbott's parents divorced in 1979, after seventeen years of marriage, but his family life remained happy. The brothers lived with their mother Carolyn, in a ranch-style house on Monterrey Street in Arlington . Carolyn
18644-549: The performer, and often used Coe's "Jack Daniels If You Please" as introductory music for Pantera shows. Darrell first met Coe in 1999, at one of his performances at Billy Bob's Texas . After the performance, Darrell waited in an autograph line to introduce himself and give Coe his phone number. They subsequently formed a friendship and Coe began spending time at Darrell's house, where the Abbott brothers and Coe played music in Darrell's backyard studio. They recruited Brown to play bass and
18802-720: The periodic table organizes elements of both light and heavy metals (e.g., uranium). An early use of the term in modern popular culture was by countercultural writer William S. Burroughs . His 1961 novel The Soft Machine includes a character known as "Uranian Willy, the Heavy Metal Kid". Burroughs' next novel, Nova Express (1964), develops the theme, using "heavy metal" as a metaphor for addictive drugs: "With their diseases and orgasm drugs and their sexless parasite life forms—Heavy Metal People of Uranus wrapped in cool blue mist of vaporized bank notes—And The Insect People of Minraud with metal music." Inspired by Burroughs' novels,
18960-420: The perpetrator was killed by a police officer. Abbott was ranked at No. 92 on Rolling Stone ' s list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" in 2011, and No. 19 on Louder ' s list of "The 50 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" in 2018. He placed at No. 5 on Gibson 's list of "The Top 10 Metal Guitarists of All Time" in 2015, and the same year was ranked as the most influential metal guitarist of
19118-574: The phrase in rock criticism appears in Sandy Pearlman's February 1967 Crawdaddy review of the Rolling Stones ' Got Live If You Want It (1966), albeit as a description of the sound rather than as a genre: "On this album the Stones go metal. Technology is in the saddle—as an ideal and as a method." Another appears in the 11 May 1968 issue of Rolling Stone , in which Barry Gifford wrote about
19276-409: The pre-Anselmo era, and he had previously recorded a 90-minute loop of it as a lullaby for his girlfriend. On May 7, 1996, The Great Southern Trendkill was released. It peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 , staying on the chart for 13 weeks. It is considered to be Pantera's most extreme work, and features some of the band's lowest-tuned tracks. On July 13, Anselmo overdosed on heroin following
19434-410: The production of a new album was too much for Slagel, who rejected the offer. The Metal Blade rejection was one of many rejections for the band. Pantera eventually attained a major-label deal with Atco Records , after Atco's talent scout Mark Ross was impressed by one of the band's live performances. Cowboys from Hell was released on July 24, 1990. The album was produced by Terry Date ; Max Norman
19592-485: The recording, the Abbotts' mother, Carolyn, was diagnosed with lung cancer, and died six weeks later on September 12, 1999. This had a profound effect on the brothers, especially Darrell. Reinventing the Steel was released on March 21, 2000. Abbott said of it: "We still play lead guitar ... Bands hardly ever play lead guitar anymore. Dude, back in the seventies, if you couldn't play the guitar or sing, you were nobody. Now music
19750-482: The riffs and song structures, and further attempted to mesh his guitar with Brown's bass to create what Brown later described as "one giant tone". Vulgar Display of Power debuted at No. 44 on the Billboard 200 , and it stayed on the chart for 79 weeks. In 2017, it was ranked at No. 10 on Rolling Stone ' s list of "The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time", with Abbott's "serrated rhythms and squealing solos" highlighted. Abbott had transformed his appearance by
19908-470: The same 27th-rate heavy metal crap". In a review of Sir Lord Baltimore 's Kingdom Come in the May 1971 edition of Creem , Saunders wrote, "Sir Lord Baltimore seems to have down pat most all the best heavy metal tricks in the book." Creem critic Lester Bangs is credited with popularizing the term via his early 1970s essays on bands such as Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Through the decade, "heavy metal"
20066-495: The same request when Dave Mustaine asked him to join Megadeth . As Mustaine had already recruited drummer Nick Menza and would not hire Vinnie, Darrell decided to stay with Pantera. By 1982, Hart left the band and was replaced by Glaze on vocals, while Rex Brown took Bradford's place as bassist. Abbott originally shared lead guitar with Glaze, but soon took permanent status as lead guitarist. Glaze said: "[Abbott] just morphed over
20224-499: The self-explanatory ' War Pigs ' and ' Hand of Doom .'" Deriving from the genre's roots in blues music, sex is another important topic – a thread running from Led Zeppelin's suggestive lyrics to the more explicit references of glam metal and nu metal bands. The thematic content of heavy metal has long been a target of criticism. According to Jon Pareles , "Heavy metal's main subject matter is simple and virtually universal. With grunts, moans and subliterary lyrics, it celebrates ...
20382-421: The sonic power that it projects through amplification has historically been the key element in heavy metal. The heavy metal guitar sound comes from a combined use of high volumes and heavy fuzz . For classic heavy metal guitar tone, guitarists maintain gain at moderate levels, without excessive preamp or pedal distortion, to retain open spaces and air in the music; the guitar amplifier is turned up loud to produce
20540-689: The term was used in the title of the 1967 album Featuring the Human Host and the Heavy Metal Kids by Hapshash and the Coloured Coat , which has been claimed to be its first use in the context of music. The phrase was later lifted by Sandy Pearlman , who used the term to describe the Byrds for their supposed "aluminium style of context and effect", particularly on their album The Notorious Byrd Brothers (1968). Metal historian Ian Christe describes what
20698-467: The terms "heavy metal" and "hard rock" have often been used interchangeably, particularly in discussing bands of the 1970s, a period when the terms were largely synonymous. For example, the 1983 edition of the Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll includes the following passage: "Known for its aggressive blues-based hard-rock style, Aerosmith was the top American heavy-metal band of
20856-416: The time of Vulgar Display of Power ' s release to that which he would maintain for the rest of his life. He sported a dyed goatee , a razorblade pendant (in homage to Judas Priest's British Steel ), cargo shorts and sleeveless shirts. Feeling that "Diamond Darrell" no longer suited his image or sound, Abbott adopted the stage name "Dimebag Darrell" instead. The name was originally coined by Anselmo. It
21014-459: The time: "Phil's a musical guy and he likes to stay busy." The touring for The Great Southern Trendkill widened the rift within the band, and the recording sessions for their next album, Reinventing the Steel , were troublesome. Vinnie said in an interview after the album's release: "It was like pulling teeth to get [Anselmo] down to the studio. He didn't like any of the material, and it was always just like this head-butting contest." Also during
21172-411: The tours supporting Down II and Use Once and Destroy were concluded. Instead, Anselmo recorded a second album with Superjoint Ritual, A Lethal Dose of American Hatred (2003). Also around this time, Darrell received a phone call from Brown, who indicated that he would not return to Pantera. The separation of Pantera was marked by the release of a greatest hits album, The Best of Pantera: Far Beyond
21330-434: The two genres that have the most in common when it comes to feel, texture, creativity." Although a number of metal musicians cite classical composers as inspiration, classical and metal are rooted in different cultural traditions and practices – classical in the art music tradition, metal in the popular music tradition. As musicologists Nicolas Cook and Nicola Dibben note: "Analyses of popular music also sometimes reveal
21488-475: The weird kid. It's kind of like that, but with metal you have all the weird kids in one place." Scholars of metal have noted the tendency of fans to classify and reject some performers (and some other fans) as " poseurs " "who pretended to be part of the subculture, but who were deemed to lack authenticity and sincerity". The origin of the term "heavy metal" in a musical context is uncertain. The phrase has been used for centuries in chemistry and metallurgy, where
21646-416: Was 16. Originally a glam metal musician, Abbott went by the stage name Diamond Darrell at the time. Two further albums in the glam metal style followed with Projects in the Jungle (1984) and I Am the Night (1985), before original vocalist Terry Glaze was replaced by Phil Anselmo in 1986 and Power Metal (1988) was released. The band's major-label debut, Cowboys from Hell (1990), introduced
21804-478: Was also killed as he attempted to aid Abbott and Thompson, as was Erin Halk, an employee of the venue who tried to disarm Gale while he was reloading. Three others were wounded before Columbus police officer James Niggemeyer entered the club and shot Gale once in the head with a 12-gauge Remington Model 870 , killing him. Abbott was pronounced dead at the scene, aged 38. Thousands of fans attended his public memorial, and
21962-406: Was applied to a pounding, hard rock variant that evolved out of the mid-1960s garage-punk movement. ... When rock began turning back to softer, roots-oriented sounds in late 1968, acid-rock bands mutated into heavy metal acts." One of the most influential bands in forging the merger of psychedelic rock and acid rock with the blues rock genre was the British power trio Cream , who derived
22120-578: Was asked to defend his song " Under the Blade " at a U.S. Senate hearing. At the hearing, the PMRC alleged that the song was about sadomasochism and rape ; Snider stated that the song was about his bandmate's throat surgery. In 1986, Ozzy Osbourne was sued over the lyrics of his song " Suicide Solution ". A lawsuit against Osbourne was filed by the parents of John McCollum, a depressed teenager who committed suicide allegedly after listening to Osbourne's song. Osbourne
22278-568: Was central. Self-described as "power groove", the album became a "blueprint-defining" work for groove metal , a sub-genre with the heaviness and intensity of thrash metal but played at a slower tempo. Southern rock elements were incorporated into the sound; Pantera's "groove" is commonly attributed to the Abbott brothers' fondness for ZZ Top . Cowboys from Hell was certified gold in 1993, and platinum in 1997. Pantera played close to 200 shows supporting Cowboys from Hell , as it toured for nearly two years. Aside from breaks to develop new material,
22436-493: Was considered extremely dissonant and unstable by medieval and Renaissance music theorists. It was nicknamed the diabolus in musica – "the devil in music". Heavy metal songs often make extensive use of pedal point as a harmonic basis. A pedal point is a sustained tone, typically in the bass range, during which at least one foreign (i.e., dissonant) harmony is sounded in the other parts. According to Robert Walser, heavy metal harmonic relationships are "often quite complex" and
22594-442: Was created by "Jerry Eld'n", an alias of Abbott's father Jerry. Jerry also served as the band's manager and producer during this time. Pantera released its first album, Metal Magic , in 1983, when Abbott was 16. A review in the November 1983 issue of Texas-based music magazine Buddy said Abbott's solos "tend to be asymmetrical in that the old theory of musical thought consisting of statements alternating with appropriate responses
22752-644: Was dented during the party after Guy Carbonneau threw it out of a window into a swimming pool, but missed the pool and hit the edge. The brothers also performed on a float during the celebration of the Stars' victory. On May 17, 2007, Abbott was posthumously inducted into Hollywood's RockWalk . Ace Frehley was among the attendees at the induction ceremony, where he spoke in honor of Abbott. Frehley also dedicated his 2009 album Anomaly to Abbott, as well as former Kiss drummer Eric Carr . A concert in memory of Abbott titled Dimebash has been held annually since 2010. All of
22910-460: Was formed in 1981. Vinnie was asked to join a band alongside his high school classmates Terry Glaze (guitar), Tommy Bradford (bass) and Donny Hart (vocals). Vinnie accepted the invitation, but on the condition that Darrell would also join the band. Glaze later recalled that they were unsure about this request, as Darrell "wasn't very good" and, two years their junior, "was a little skinny, scrawny dude", but they ultimately agreed. In 1989, Darrell made
23068-618: Was growing up, and that definitely rubbed off on me." Abbott was also influenced by contemporary metal guitarists such as Kerry King of Slayer , James Hetfield of Metallica , and Zakk Wylde of Ozzy Osbourne and Black Label Society . Abbott did not receive formal guitar lessons. He stated in a 1994 Guitar World interview that he once received "a guitar lesson off this cat. He wrote down some weird scale and tried to explain how it worked. After we finished he said, 'Now go on home, practice that scale, and show me how well you can play it next week.' So I took it home, played around with it for
23226-419: Was in reference to Abbott's refusal to accept more than a dime bag (slang for $ 10 worth) of cannabis at one time—even if offered for free—as he did not want to be caught with the drug on-hand. All of Pantera's albums until 1994 were recorded at Pantego Sound, the studio owned by the Abbott brothers' father Jerry. It was conveniently located a short distance from the Abbotts' home. After Vulgar Display of Power
23384-421: Was installed around the Abbott burial ground in an effort to stop vandalism, as Darrell's grave had previously been scratched and defaced by people over the years. In a 2010 interview, Vinnie called the vandalism "a real disrespectful thing". The Alrosa Villa was later demolished in 2021. Originally a glam metal musician, Abbott distanced himself from the subgenre by the late 1980s, and was a driving force behind
23542-496: Was not found to be responsible for the teen's death. In 1990, Judas Priest was sued in American court by the parents of two young men who had shot themselves five years earlier, allegedly after hearing the subliminal statement "do it" in the band's cover of the song " Better by You, Better than Me ". While the case attracted a great deal of media attention, it was ultimately dismissed. In 1991, U.K. police seized death metal records from
23700-410: Was often used interchangeably with "heavy metal" and " hard rock ". "Acid rock" generally describes heavy, hard or raw psychedelic rock. Musicologist Steve Waksman stated that "the distinction between acid rock, hard rock, and heavy metal can at some point never be more than tenuous", while percussionist John Beck defined "acid rock" as synonymous with hard rock and heavy metal. Apart from "acid rock",
23858-419: Was one of the earliest terms used to describe this style of music and was applied to acts such as Sabbath and Bloodrock . Classic Rock magazine described the downer rock culture revolving around the use of Quaaludes and the drinking of wine. The term would later be replaced by "heavy metal". Earlier on, as "heavy metal" emerged partially from heavy psychedelic rock, also known as acid rock , "acid rock"
24016-426: Was recruited on bass, and the band signed with Elektra Records later in 2003. The name of the band originally was New Found Power, but they later decided on Damageplan . New Found Power instead served as the title of the group's debut album, which was released on February 10, 2004. It did not near the commercial success of Pantera's major-label releases: it sold 44,000 copies in its first week to debut at No. 38 on
24174-462: Was released, Jerry closed Pantego Sound and opened a new studio, Abtrax, in Nashville, Tennessee , as he hoped to fulfill his dream of becoming a country songwriter. Pantera's third major-label album, Far Beyond Driven , was recorded at Abtrax. Abbott said in a 1994 Guitar Player interview: "We were fuckin' flying [to Nashville] for three weeks at a time, writing songs and cutting them." This led to
24332-435: Was seminal to the development of the later heavy metal sound. The combination of this loud and heavy blues rock with psychedelic rock and acid rock formed much of the original basis for heavy metal. The variant or subgenre of psychedelic rock often known as "acid rock" was particularly influential on heavy metal and its development; acid rock is often defined as a heavier, louder, or harder variant of psychedelic rock, or
24490-404: Was still with us." Abbott grew up in the same neighborhood as his long-time partner Rita Haney, whom he first met at the age of eight. They began dating in 1984. The couple never married. Haney said in a 2006 interview: "We didn't believe in the marriage thing. ... Why have someone you don't know tell you it's OK to be with someone you do know? We didn't need the middleman! We had a one-on-one with
24648-514: Was supportive of her sons' musical endeavors. Their father Jerry remained in the area after the divorce and Darrell would often go on a bicycle to visit him for guitar lessons "pretty darned regular". Abbott took up the guitar when he was 12 years old. His first guitar was a Les Paul -style Hondo , which he received along with a Pignose amplifier on his twelfth birthday. Influenced by Black Sabbath , Judas Priest , Kiss and Van Halen , he would initially spend time in his room standing in front of
24806-416: Was the original choice for producer but he opted to produce Lynch Mob 's Wicked Sensation instead. Date – who was hired to produce Cowboys from Hell on the strength of his work with Soundgarden , Metal Church and Overkill – also served as producer for Pantera's next three albums. Cowboys from Hell marked the development of what would become Pantera's familiar sound, to which Abbott's guitar playing
24964-413: Was used by certain critics as a virtually automatic putdown. In 1979, lead New York Times popular music critic John Rockwell described what he called "heavy-metal rock" as "brutally aggressive music played mostly for minds clouded by drugs" and, in a different article, as "a crude exaggeration of rock basics that appeals to white teenagers". Coined by Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward , "downer rock"
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