While Damageplan was promoting the album at a concert on December 8, 2004, a man named Nathan Gale climbed on stage and murdered Darrell, the lead guitarist for Damageplan. Although no motive was found, some witnesses claimed Gale blamed the brothers for Pantera's breakup and believed that they had stolen his lyrics. Gale was killed by police officer James Niggemeyer, who was found to have acted accordingly by the Franklin County prosecutor's office. The band's manager confirmed there are unreleased Damageplan recordings, although they have not surfaced, and the band has not performed since the incident. Abbott and Zilla have joined the band Hellyeah, and Lachman joined The Mercy Clinic.
History
Formation
Guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott were not pleased with the difficulties heavy metal band Pantera was experiencing. Abbott described the performance of Pantera's vocalist, Phil Anselmo, as either "hit and miss, depending on what type of chemicals he was on."[1] Anselmo and bassist Rex Brown preferred contributing to their side projects and did not discuss or record Pantera material, while Darrell and Vinnie wanted to continue to write and play music. They thought it was time to move on and began writing new material.[1]A demo of the song "Crawl" was sent to former Halford guitarist Pat Lachman who auditioned as vocalist. Lachman was hired, and Damageplan was formed in early 2003 with ex-Jerry Cantrell guitarist Shawn Matthews on bass initially, who was replaced after the album recording with the brothers' tattoo artist, Bob Zilla.[2][3] When writing music, Vinnie claimed; "we put no boundaries on it...we wanted it to be very diverse", and Darrell said "We wanted to stretch out and expand our capabilities to their fullest."[4] The band changed its name to Damageplan and decided to name the first album New Found Power.[2]
New Found Power
The single "Save Me" debuted on American radio on January 26, 2004 and the band's debut album, New Found Power, was released in the United States on February 10, 2004. The album was recorded at the brothers' backyard studio, Chasin' Jason in Arlington, Texas, where previous Pantera albums were recorded. Abbott found that during recording everyone was willing to contribute and "put 100% effort into it", while with Pantera he found it difficult to get Anselmo in the recording studio.[5] Corey Taylor of Slipknot, Zakk Wylde of Black Label Society and Jerry Cantrell of Alice In Chains made guest appearances on the tracks "Fuck You", "Soul Bleed", and the bonus track "Ashes To Ashes" respectively, and Sterling Winfield handled co-production duties.New Found Power sold 44,676 copies in its first week to debut at number 38 on the Billboard 200.[6] The album received mixed reviews from music critics; Christine Klunk of PopMatters commented "I'm not in the least bit interested in where this band goes or what new and exciting ways they'll think of to abuse the listeners,"[7] while Johnny Loftus of Allmusic felt it was a "blazing new beginning".[8]
Alice in Chains' vocalist/guitarist Jerry Cantrell attended a Thanksgiving party hosted by the brothers. Darrell and Vinnie had a demo of the first song they wrote titled "Ashes to Ashes". Lachman insisted it was on the "backburner" until Cantrell showed interest. The band entered the brothers' backyard studio with Cantrell to record "Ashes to Ashes". Although the song was not completed in time to be featured on New Found Power, it was included on the Japanese version and the soundtrack The Punisher: The Album.[9] To promote New Found Power, the band toured with Hatebreed, Drowning Pool, and Unearth on the second installment of the Headbanger's Ball.[6]
Murder of Dimebag Darrell
A police investigation did not find a motive behind the shooting, although some fans claimed Gale blamed Darrell and Vinnie for the demise of Pantera, and that Gale said the brothers stole his lyrics while trying to steal his identity.[11] Gale used a Beretta 92F that was given to him by his mother, who was proud of his military service following his discharge. Although Major Jason Johnston, a Marine Corps spokesman at The Pentagon, was unable to comment on his discharge, his mother said he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. He was given medication for the condition although she does not know if he took it.[10][11][12]
A foundation called The Dimebag Darrell Memorial Fund was created after the incident, which donated its profits to cover medical expenses of drum technician John Brooks and tour manager Chris Paluska, who were injured on December 8.[13] A public memorial service for Darrell took place on December 14, 2004 at Arlington Convention Center in Arlington, Texas. Many musicians paid tribute to Darrell on message boards and at live performances.[14]
In May 2005, Niggemeyer was called before a grand jury, which was assembled by the Franklin County prosecutor's office to examine the actions taken that night, a standard practice when lethal force is used. The jury found there was no wrongdoing on Niggemeyer's part. Franklin County prosecutor Ron O'Brien commented, "There was little doubt [the shooting] was lawful, given the 200 eyewitnesses and the circumstances that surrounded the shooting. Nevertheless, we still have an independent body review the facts". Niggemeyer was nominated for a bravery award on the TV show America's Most Wanted.[15]
Post-murder events
In a 2005 interview, Damageplan manager Paul Bassman said unreleased recordings before Darrell's death were near completion. He commented, "Vinnie Abbott has said there will be a follow-up album down the road, as Dime would have wanted his music to be heard."[13] Rumors circulated of another album, although nothing has been released.[13]Vocalist Lachman joined The Mercy Clinic, which aided the grieving process. He commented, "you have to get back on the horse. You could easily let a decade go by and not do anything. I'm happy to have walked away with my life after the situation I was thrown into. But, I mean, what do you do? I'm a musician. I'm going to make music. What Dime would have told me was, 'You make music, motherfucker. Get back on it. Do what you do.' So, that's what I did."[18] Before the shooting, Phil Anselmo made the statement "Dimebag deserves to be severely beaten" in the December 2004 edition of Metal Hammer.[19] He denied making the comments and apologized, although Abbott requested Metal Hammer to provide the audio tapes to prove the authenticity of what Anselmo said. Abbott found the quote authentic and referred to him as the "master of lies".[20]
A book titled A Vulgar Display of Power: Courage and Carnage at the Alrosa Villa was penned by author Chris Arnold. For 14 months, Arnold interviewed people and researched the events leading up to December 8, stating "It's not a book about rock stars, but heroes, regular guys who made the ultimate sacrifice." In his research, Arnold found no evidence that the comments Anselmo made before Darrell's death had influenced Gale's actions. The book was released in 2007.[19]
Lyrical themes and style
 | 30 second sample from "Wake Up" demonstrating Lachman's vocals, Darrell's out the high-speed, high-volume riffs, and Abbott's plodding, heavy-handed rhythm as said by Christine Klunk of PopMatters. |
| Problems listening to this file? See media help. | |
When writing music, Abbott and Darrell suggested guitar riffs and "grooves", while Lachman added his input to modify the song's structure. The band's sound has been described by music critics to be similar to Pantera. Christine Klunk of PopMatters disliked the similarities and commented, "aside from a constant, driving rhythm, repetitive riffs, and unintelligible lyrics about (I'm assuming) kicking ass—there's nothing of interest to pay attention to".[7] The song "Breathing New Life" features 180 beats-per-minute bass drum pedaling, what Vik Bansal of MusicOMH described as "exploding into a blaze of riffage and a cool chorus". Bansal was impressed with certain elements of the song such as the switch from downbeat singing to "a big chorus lodged in power chord heaven", and the incorporated groove rhythms. However, he felt Darrell "borrows" Anthrax's guitar solo from the song "Only".[22]
Band members
Discography
] Albums
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 2004 | New Found Power
|
Singles
| Year | Title | US Main[23] | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | "Save Me" | 16 | New Found Power |
| "Breathing New Life" | — | ||
| "Explode" | — | ||
| "Pride" | 30 | ||
| "—" denotes singles that were released but did not chart. | |||
Music videos
| Year | Title | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | "Save Me" | Salzy |
| "Breathing New Life" | Red Ezra | |
| "Explode" |
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