The true mark of any great musician is the sound they create. Anyone can be taught to read and write music, to play the notes on the page, and to sing the lyrics on the Karoke prompter.
But to have your own instantly identifiable sound is the mark of a true musical genuis. Darrel Lance Abbot was one such pioneer.
From its inception to its eventual breakup, there was no mistaking the sound of Pantera. When you heard a new song from them, it needed no intruduction, you knew just by the sound that it was Pantera. Darrel Abbot was the cornerstone of this sound. Since Pantera, many many other bands have saught to duplicate their sound, and variations of it have made for some great music. The driving force of his low slung guitar literealy changed the face of Metal. It carried over into his most recent project, Damage Plan. He and his brother could bang out pounding rythms that no one could resist nodding their head or stomping their feet to.
Due to the lack of bad blood between the brothers and the other members of Pantera, the potential was always there for a reunion, but that changed last night. Attacked and killed on stage, while playing the music that banged the heads of generation, it was one of the most tragic, and debatably most honnorable deaths in rock and roll history. I'll be looking forward to his music roaring through the halls of Val Hallah when I get there.
Rest in Peice
Darrel Lance Abbot
1966 - *