Despite proclaiming that he would not publicly commemorate the 10th anniversary of the death of “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott, his former Pantera bandmate Phil Anselmo wrote about his memories of the guitarist on Rolling Stone today. In the moving tribute, he says that this year is the hardest yet, and he still has dreams about him. Among the stories he shares are that he convinced Dime to become Dime:
When I joined the band, he was going by “Diamond Darrell.” I was always in the process of morphing the band into what we eventually did become, by controlling the cassette deck and turning them guys onto early Mercyful Fate, Slayer and shit like that. After awhile, I was like, “This ‘Diamond’ shit ain’t gonna cut it anymore. Brother, you ought to change that shit to ‘Dimebag,'” and the look on his face was priceless, ’cause I could tell he loved it right off the bat. It just cracked his ass up and he went with it from there.
Another great story is about how Dime pushed Anselmo at the end of “Cemetery Gates” matching his notes with the whammy bar. And even more sad, he claims that he definitely would have made more music with Dime:
“I know for a fact that we would’ve made more music together. There would’ve been more Pantera tours. There would’ve been more albums. Then, when I think about it, the reality of his death collapses that entire pipe dream, and once again the heart is crushed.
The whole article is here, and should be read by every Pantera fan. Getcha pull.
