Can We Now Just Let Dimebag Rest In Peace?

Today marks the seventh anniversary of Pantera, (and those other two bands), guitarist Dimebag Darrell Abbott's death. If you are looking for a tribute to him, you can visit any other website; just look for the RIP Dimebag headline. But before you go changing your Facebook profile picture to that Dimebag memorial shot, just know this; it is okay to not follow the crowd and succumb to the post-mortem capitalism.

Hasn't seven years been long enough? I stopped caring after about 3 weeks when my beloved cat died. When my grandma died a few months back, I was sad for about a week. Once her crispy remains were entombed, I was pretty much at peace. So why do we celebrate this guitarist like he is the messiah? It was a tragic way in which he was killed, but many other metal musicians are taken from us at even younger ages. Will people remember the death of Cory Smoot from Gwar in seven years? Will anyone care next June that it is the one year anniversary of Anal Cunt's founder Seth Putnam?

Was Dimebag as good as people carry on? When he was killed, it was in front of barely 250 people. Surely a guitarist as good as everyone tells me he was would have been able to muster up more support than 250 faces. Where were all these people that worship Dimebag during the Damageplan years? They weren't buying his albums or attending his concerts. The only reason he became such a great guitarist was because he died and it became un-PC to challenge the fact that he was the greatest guitarist since Hendrix. He wrote some decent solos and riffs but he was only a quarter of what made Pantera any good. Dime wasn't a very technically skilled guitarist like Wintersun's Jari Maenpaa or Necrophagist’s Muhammad Suicmez. He could riff and that was about it. Since Dime’s death, he has become the most overrated guitarist in metal.

So why keep his name alive and pound it into our skulls that he was the greatest guitarist to ever live? Simple, money. How many of you bought a Dimebag memorial shirt over the years? How many bought the Dimebag commemorative Revolver issue or go to the Dean booth to check out his line of guitars that they capitalized on shortly after his death. You can now purchase just about anything related to Dimebag from bobbleheads to necklaces. Dime was such a huge fan of dolls with over-sized heads that jiggle like a fat chicks ass as she climbs the stairs. Nothing says '#1 Pantera fan' like sporting a pewter necklace.

You can still continue thinking Pantera was good or even great. But please stop buying into the fact that Dimebag was the greatest guitarist out there. All it does is line the pockets of those exploiting his name. The way you should remember someone is not in buying exploitative products with his likeness. Whatever you want to think about Dimebag Darrell Abbott is up to you. Just keep in mind as you read posts and comments on other sites if that is the wayhe would have wanted to be remembered?

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Tags:  Pantera, Damageplan, Dimebag, Darrell Abbott, Vinnie Paul

Jason Fisher    December 08, 2011