Dimebag Darrell's Fans Fill Heavy-Metal Sites With Internet Eulogies

At around 10 p.m. Wednesday, the chatter on KNAC.com's pure rock bulletin board abruptly turned from the merits of "Eye of an Eagle" to homicide. There was news.

In Columbus, Ohio, Darrell Abbott, the guitarist for Damageplan known as Dimebag Darrell, and formerly of the metal band Pantera, had been shot to death while performing. The killer was shot dead by the police but not before he had killed three other people in the club.

The bearer of the bad news declared, "A great metal warrior has fallen."

Thus the Internet began absorbing the death of a heavy-metal hero. Rumors were squashed and confirmed. Rants were answered. Expletives and lamentations were exchanged. And before two days had passed, those who cared most had their say and those who knew nothing about Dimebag, Damageplan or Pantera had had a glimpse into another world in mourning.

Soon after the shooting, eyewitnesses posted their accounts. "Oh, my God," one reported on Metal-Sludge.com. "I'm shaking so bad I can hardly type this. I went to see Damageplan tonight at the Alrosa Villa here in Columbus. And I'm afraid I may be the bearer of some VERY TRAGIC news. Less than a minute into Damageplan's set, some guy ran onstage, grabbed Dimebag and just started pumping shots into him!!!"

Metal-Rules.com picked up a post that included another firsthand account: "I saw the guy jump out of the crowd onto the stage. He was yelling something about how 'you broke up Pantera! You ruined my life!' The whole time I thought it was part of the show. I had blood on me I was so close. I'm still freakin' out here."

The band's official fan Web site, damageplan.net, said, "Words can't describe the way we all feel." A message board was set up "so we all have a place to be together."

On KNAC.com, a Web site and online radio station that bill's itself "the loudest dot.com on the planet," the mourning began the night of Dimebag's death. His music played into Thursday and Friday on the site: Pantera's "We'll Grind That Ax for a While," Damageplan's "Blunt Force Trauma," Pantera's "Cat Scratch Fever." Messages to the dead guitarist poured in: "R.I.P., Dimebag, you ruled." Soon, metal fans everywhere began writing about their dashed hopes. "That ruins the chance of a reunion tour with Pantera," one writer sighed.

Then the drinking commenced. "This beer is for you, Dimebag." one writer proposed. "Everyone, raise your beer." Another fan objected: "No offense to the departed, but a beer before noon sounds like an A.A. problem. Tonight we'll have a kegger."

"Hey, I work for A.A.," another post said, as if that had anything to do with anything.

By early morning, metal fans were waxing philosophical in between expletives. "R.I.P., Dimebag, what a cruel way to leave this life. Thanks, Dimebag, for riffs that will live longer than anyone of us."

When the killer's identity was revealed -- Nathan M. Gale, a Pantera fan -- a vein of spleen was tapped. There was talk of revenge beyond the grave. And plenty of bile was left over for one of Pantera's members, Phil Anselmo, who, apparently, initiated Pantera's breakup.

Then a debate started about Mr. Gale's mother, until one post pleaded for respect. "I'm sure she's just as cut up about his death as we are about Dime!! and she was probably not such a good mum (otherwise he may not have done what he did) but I'm sure she loved him and is upset, too."

And what about Mr. Anselmo, formerly of Pantera and currently of Superjoint Ritual? Fans were feeling cranky toward him. "Happy now, Phil?" one fan wrote. Another writer said, "Guarantee it comes out that the shooter was obsessed with Phil Anselmo and thought by killing Dimebag he would be doing his idol Phil's bidding."

Maybe it was revenge, maybe not. But many people wondered how it could have happened. "You do wonder how someone got into the place with a gun," one wrote. "Every show I've been to I've been patted down from head to toe."

Another writer said he hoped that security would remain lax, if only so the next onstage killing could be properly avenged. "Hopefully club promoters and security will remember that this was an isolated incident and not get overzealous with security at metal shows," he wrote. "Too bad the cops killed this guy. I wish he had lived so that Zakk Wylde and Vinnie Paul could kill him with their bare hands." Mr. Wylde is the guitarist for Black Label Society, and Vinnie Paul Abbott is the drummer in his brother's band.

But most people seemed to favor metal detectors, suggesting that pat-downs were half-hearted, especially when it came to searching people's pants. One wrote, "I think we all know that if we stick something down our pants, security isn't going to pat there. Another wrote: "Metal detectors would actually SPEED things up. Pat-downs are useless. I've brought guns into concerts before (I'm a cop so shut it) just to see if I could."

One person blamed American violence for Dimebag's death, writing: "America is a violent country. One of the world's most. Instead of dealing with murder and violent crime in our inner cities and elsewhere, we point the finger at others, formerly Communists, currently Muslims. Our president is a compulsive liar so we're dealing with the chaos ourselves on a daily basis. "

By Thursday afternoon, KNAC.com had posted some musicians' comments. Doug Sabolick of the metal band A Life Once Lost noted, "Dimebag was the one who inspired me to pick up the ax, the bottle and the joint."

Keith Buckley of Every Time I Die wrote in a fancy style: "There are a lot of counterfactuals involved in senseless deaths like that of Dimebag's. What if it had been one of our shows? What if it had been me? The more sincere questions are the most immediate. Mine was this. 'Why did Pantera break up in the first place?"'

Another fan recommended Metal-Rules.com for better tributes. "There are a lot more A-list people on there talking about this!" At that site, Ozzy Osbourne mourned: "I'm absolutely beside myself with grief." And Glen Drover of Megadeth reminisced: "The thing that was so amazing about Dimebag is that he could go onstage and rip your head right off and be drunk at the same time!! He was so great!"

By yesterday morning on KNAC.com, Dimebag's mourners were preparing to teach the next generation about their fallen hero: "I am a teacher and have loved Pantera for the last 12-13 years. I am totally bummed. Right now I am blasting Pantera and Damageplan all day on the stereo in my office, so when the students come in and say, 'Who is that on the stereo?' I tell them it is the best guitarist in the world, so sit down, shut up, listen and learn something!"