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Patrick Lachman - Vocals
Dimebag Darrell - Guitar
Vinnie Paul - Drums
Bob Zilla - Bass
For Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul to morph from indispensable members of the legendary, hard hitting Texas band Pantera, to the indisputable twin forces behind n |
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Patrick Lachman - Vocals
Dimebag Darrell - Guitar
Vinnie Paul - Drums
Bob Zilla - Bass
For Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul to morph from indispensable members of the legendary, hard hitting Texas band Pantera, to the indisputable twin forces behind new band Damageplan, they had to reach down inside and find a 'NEW FOUND POWER.' The phrase became not only the new band's mantra, but also one of the more ferocious songs on the 14-song disk. It became such a big part of the Damageplan lexicon; they blessed it as the album's title track. 'We didn't want to forget our mission,' says Vinnie Paul. 'We had accomplished a lot with Pantera. Always been known for straight up ass kickin', but now we want to keep that and do some branching out, too.' Never known for mincing words, Dime puts his own 'Dime-bonics' spin on it: 'When people ask me about the spectrum of this album, I say 'what kind of fucking ass kickin' do you want?' Right in the nose? One in the gut, maybe? Or how 'bout the Chinese fuckin' torture TREATMENT? It's all fuckin' there. This gave us the opportunity to do something fresh and diverse and bring it to our loyal and die hard fans. Why paint the same fucking picture 15 million times?'
Born in Texas, Vinnie and Dime grew up in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, where they came from a very musical background. Their father, Jerry Abbott, owned and engineered a recording studio not far from their home. The brothers used to hang out down at the studio on a regular basis, where they got to see their share of Texas legends. Dime and Vinnie were also influenced by such greats as Tony Iommi, Ace Frehley, Edward Van Halen, Randy Rhodes, Tommy Aldridge, John Bonham, Alex Van Halen, and Neil Peart, just to name a few. This helped progress the 'dynamic duo' into the most influential guitarist and drummer of the 1990's, where they have continued their groundbreaking techniques and styles into the new millennium.
On to Damageplan....
'When we first started putting this band together, we knew we were going to have to get a kick ass vocalist,' says Vinnie. Enter PAT LACHMAN former HALFORD and DIESEL MACHINE guitarist. 'We tried several people, and they just weren't working out. Patrick was traveling to back and forth to Dallas, and during this time, he had formed a friendship with Dime. The two were hangin' out, listenin' to jams, and drinkin', when Dime played him the new music we had been workin' on. Pat was blown away and immediately expressed interest in being part of the band, but Dimebag had the guitar already covered, so when Pat said he wanted to sing they were totally surprised.
Dimebag recalls how Lachman proved his vocal prowess. 'We gave him a track and he went back to L.A. and just killed it. He Fed Ex'd it to me and Vinnie and we put an ear to it that night...and it crushed! So we gave him a few more tracks and he kept fuckin' killin' 'em. The key was, he had that aggression, which has always been crucial to what we do, but at the same time, we love a fucking melody, and Pat can bring that too. His style is very diverse. Vinnie and I have always been about the 'Power Groove', as well as good songwriting.'
Pat says he was very cautious, at first, stepping up to the plate with two members of a group that he had grown up with. 'At first it was a little intimidating, but the personal relationship I had with Dime relaxed me a little bit. There was also that mutual respect on a professional level. I think with good singers, your musical roots have to be there, and the fact that I played guitar also helped. They knew I was coming from solid ground.' Patrick's musical influences are very broad, from Pink Floyd to Meshuggah. Born in Portland, Oregon, he started playing guitar and writing songs at the age of twelve. When he was twenty years old, he relocated to L.A., where in addition to his work in Diesel Machine, he wrote and recorded 3 albums with Rob Halford, and also collaborated with Tommy Victor. Now he finds himself in Texas where he has found his true calling... as the voice of Damageplan.
New Found Power is indeed a fright-gallery of scorching, molten hard rock masterpieces, from the crushing eye-opener 'Wake Up,' to the thankfully self-explanatory 'Fuck You' - 'the people who think that song is about them know who they are,' says the ever-quotable Dimebag - to the relentless crank of 'Blunt Force Trauma.' But the boys do expand their musical palette. You can hear the difference, even in the gradations of dynamics in a song like 'Reborn' or the feverish 'Crawl'. 'That was one of the first songs Pat attacked,' says Dime. "He wanted that to be the first, because he felt there were so many ways he could express his vocal ability.' As Pat states, 'That song was important; it was an open playing field. I could show what I could do in a variety of ways. It was the one that enabled me to put my foot in the door and make sure it didn't slam shut in my face.'
Dime and Vinnie also approached their craft slightly differently on the Damageplan debut. 'Of course, we did our usual thing where we just jammed with a fucking hangover,' says Dime. 'But we also trusted our chemistry so much, that we made individual pieces that we each could put our own vision to.' Vinnie elaborates, 'Dime would lay down five to ten riffs and I'd go in and do my thing, just to see where it would go. There was an incredible amount of freedom. It was cool to interject on top of one another like that, and bleed off each other as a part of the creative process. We'd never done that before.'
To add the final completion to the plan, Bob Zilla was brought into the fold. As Dime informs us, 'We really wanted a true bass player with a monstrous sound. We had seen Bob play in various local bands, along with various styles of music. We knew he had the diversity, and he still had the same heavy influences we had grown up on, not to mention, he's one hell of a tattoo artist too. So he was our first choice to audition. He came down to the studio one night, and after we jammed a few songs together,' Vinnie says, 'Man, dude sounds like Godzilla comin' outta that rig!' Henceforth, he would be notorious, as 'Bob Zilla.'
Born in Waikiki, Hawaii, Bob Kakaha grew up in Southern California, where his mom raised him on Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Led Zeppelin. He started playing drums at age 14, but picked up the bass shortly after. 'I played in a band with my brother for awhile, other than the backyard keggers, we played a gig at the Troubadour when I was almost 18...I was hooked! My music style is aggressive and damaging. I wanted to learn as much music as possible, so I experimented with various styles while playing with bands in L.A., everything from death metal to reggae, funk to rock, but my heart is PURE METAL!!! I'm a huge Maiden fan!'
Eventually moving to Dallas, Zilla explains how he came to know the brothers. 'Over a period of time, I had struck up a friendship, as well as a tattoo relationship with Dime and Vinnie, so when I got the call, I was honored.' When asked how he feels about Damageplan, 'I couldn't ask for a more killer opportunity. Not only were these guys such a great influence on me musically, but they're also my friends, and guys I get totally boozed up with. Something like this only happens to a person once, if ever, in their career. I feel honored to play with such awesome musicians. I couldn't be happier about the entire situation. I have nothing but the best feelings about the outcome, and with the chemistry with what we are creating, how can you go wrong.'
Pat views Damageplan as a natural progression of the nucleus that made Pantera a legend in the first place. 'Comparisons are going to come because it's the evolution of a legacy, even though we're not trying to be Pantera. We're trying to evolve and do something different. As Vinnie states, 'We know we have been very influential on today's music. Bands tell us all the time how much we influenced them, so we have that legacy, but at the same time, we like a lot of the great fucking music that's out there now, and with Pat and Bob Zilla, we feel there's nothing we can't accomplish. Dime and I lived on the road for 12 years. We can't wait to get back out there. No pun intended - but we want to unleash some real fucking 'damage' on these motherfuckers.'
Dimebag, as always, is downright philosophical about such a protest. 'After kickin' ass for so long and realizing you're starting over, it re-energizes you. We know a lot of fucking bands don't make it past their second record, much less, match the damage we laid down over the years. And then when it's over and you've done it - most of the motherfuckers run from it like 'Goddamn, I can't believe I'm still alive.' We take the opposite fucking approach. Like goddamn, we were just getting good at this... Really motherfucker...we're just getting warmed up.'
So, I ask you... how can you go wrong with four badass motherfuckers like Damageplan? The name says it all...Devastation is truly on the way.
Bio written by: www.damageplan.com/bio/bio.asp |
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Discussion Topic
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Creator
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Dimebag Darrell Lance Abbott
(August 20th, 1966 - December
8th 2004)
"Dimebag" Darrell Lance Abbott
(August 20th, 1966 - December 8th 2004)
Last night, December 9th 2004, as I prepared
myself for a night of massive draught
consumption, I was floored momentarily. As I
clicked through the channels, a teaser for
the local news caught me off-guard.
"Metal guitarist shot and killed,
details at eleven." I thought to
myself surely it can not be anyone worthy of
tears, or my phone would have been off the
hook. Not to mention, we all know of a
guitarist or two we wouldn't mind being
snubbed off the scene or maybe even the
planet for that matter. Nonetheless, further
information said the incident involved a
Columbus Ohio setting, and inexplicably, I
was immediately reminded of the unfortunate
incident in Rhode Island involving Great
White nearly two years ago. 'Can never be
too careful,' I said to myself as I
plunged for box of wires and knowledge.
No longer was my shock momentary as the rest
of the information finally jumped from the
screen back at me. Darrell Abbott, otherwise
affectionately known to the rest of the world
as one "Dimebag Darrell" was
shot and killed tonight. Abbott, 38, and his
brother and long time drummer, Vinnie Paul,
had been re-visiting the depths of ground
level artist promotion touring with their new
formation Damageplan. "It just kind of
got narrow-minded, and we just wanted to bust
it open a little bit more and just broaden it
up, go for the Baskin-Robbins 31 flavors
instead of the one, you know what I
mean?," Darrell Abbott told CNN news
back in April 2004 of the finally confirmed
Pantera break-up.
Back to Friday night (12.9.04), not long into
Damageplan's live set at Alrosa Villa
night club, 25 year-old Nathan Gale from
nearby Marysville was said to have charged
the stage and shot Darrell in the side of the
head from close range. After shooting the
legendary lead finger picker, the heavy set
man dressed in his said-to-be usual attire
(Columbus Blue Jackets Hockey jersey and a
hoodie), moved his attention sporadically and
successfully towards the rest of the stage
area and eventually onto his peers in the
crowd. By the time local police officer James
Niggemeyer had shot and killed Gale, four
others were dead, including the head of
Damageplan security, Jeffrey
"Mayhem" Thompson. Acting tour
manager Chris Paluska (critical but stable
condition) and drum tech John
"Kat" Brooks were also injured
during the shooting. Although, early reports
had said Vinnie Paul was also shot and
possibly killed, these reports were later
nullified.
As for a next day clear cut motive, it was
still unclear to police as to what, if any
motive Gale had for his senseless rampage.
Some witnesses at the show said he was
yelling accusations as he attacked. Perhaps
suggesting Dimebag had been the reasoning
behind the Pantera break up, but police had
not verified those reports. Eery reports say
hands stamped 21 and over allegedly marked
the word assassin. In an interview conducted
with Fox News with one of his hometown
friends, Gale has said to have accused
Pantera of allegedly stealing his lyrics, and
even his identity. Even further investigation
led to many other stories of exemplified
reasoning as to how this random individual
could've been guilty of this heinous
crime, but let's keep a journalistic
integrity and stick with the real story
here...saying good-bye to a legend.
Born and raised in the Dallas/Fort Worth area
by his father, Jerry Abbott, Darrell was
known for his electrifying and mind-boggling
guitar solos. Though some of his influences
included fellow metal guitarists such as
Black Sabbath's late guitarist Tony Iommi,
or even contemporary performers such as James
Hetfield (Metallica), and Kerry King
(Slayer), it may have been his father's
upbringing that molded this genius. Jerry
Abbott, a country songwriter, owned a
recording studio. So often times, Darrell
would watch on as blues guitar legends came
through the studio with their quick gun
style. And some will remember Dimebag for his
amazing characteristics and antics. Such as
the Godzilla-like claws that climbed over the
top of his roof at his home in Arlington ,TX.
Not always Dimebag, as Diamond Darrell and
his brother formed Pantera originally formed
back in 1982, they were as Glam as they came.
From the high pitched stereotypical 80's
vocals, to the dredges, bayou's and
beliefs of deep southern metal. It was their
Glam/Metal hybrid and major label debut with
Elektra records, "Cowboys From
Hell," that helped sit them atop the
metal industry in 1990, when it rose up the
Billboard 200 charts, going as high as 27th .
And even though their 1992 sophomore release
only peaked as high as 44th, "Vulgar
Display Of Power," with its
unforgettable fist to the face album cover
art, it's said to have embedded the act
forever into the historical lesson plan of
influential heavy metal for years to come.
Although songs like "Respect
(Walk)," "F*cking
Hostile" and "Rise" were
over-aggressive moments of lyrical bigotry,
the music itself became the life raft that
saved those who were lost at sea during the
dying days of Grunge. That deep bottomed out
feel of Rex Rocker's (Bass/Pantera)
strings, or the double bass feel of Vinnie
Paul pounding away at the pedals combining
with the music's heartbeat, the 6 strings
of Dimebag's trailblazing charting on the
neck of his signature geetar. Later on, by
releasing a slew of videos and albums such as
"Far Beyond Driven",
"The Great Southern Trendkill",
and "Reinventing The Steel",
Pantera only secured their place in the
impending creation of a Metal Hall of Fame.
Whether or not it's tactful to admit,
after I learned of the fatal tragedy that
night, I kept my plans for draught
consumption because Dimebag would have wanted
it that way. Most of the night, my brain
shifted back towards the early days of my
musical afflictions. I could almost taste the
days of high schools halls. Hiding in the
back of my Introduction to Keyboarding class,
writhing and sliding my hands in an air
guitar motion with each amazing chord, one
after another as "Hollow"
played on my borrowed classmate's walkman.
Its epic-like rhythms blaring loud, surely
defining the musical preference of the tiny
hairs in my ears. (But) never will I forget
the first time I saw his presence on stage.
Focused, and never intent on anything but the
perfect trails of scrunching Classic Rock and
Heavy Metal together enamored in a blend of
distorted equalizers.
Although other stories here may very well be
that of lame gun control laws or slacking
event security, the real focus should
spotlight this as yet another isolated
incident of what happens when idolization of
performers (music, sport, television etc...)
simply gets out of hand. For whatever reason
this the press may drudge up eventually (and
you know we will) as to why this selection of
flesh and bone decided to take it upon
himself to end another human's life, and
so now we're left to pick up the pieces, I
suppose we should be alright. Just dig
through that CD collection, and next time you
see you're "Vulgar Display Of
Power" CD, throw it on for old times
sake, and say a prayer every so often for the
recently passed on guitar god.
Written by
Brian 'hstisgod' Rutherford
hstisgod2000@yahoo.com
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hstisgod |
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Replys
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Listener
| Pantera is my favorite band and Damageplan is
right next to them. I miss Dimebag sooo mucc.
I never got the chance to see him live | freakshow68 | i know what you mean man. i miss him too. man
damageplan was doing great too but his life
was ended too soon. RIP Dimebag! Play guitar
in the afterlife. | metalCHAINS | | | |
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