Over the weekend, the metal community lost one of its most important members in Vinnie Paul of Pantera. The drummer, who along with his brother Dimebag Darrell and bassist Rex Brown, laid down some of the dirtiest grooves in metal history, the perfect template for lead vocalist Philip Anselmo to snarl over. That Texas group known as Pantera were one of rawest, heaviest bands to break into the alternative rock mainstream in the 80s and 90s. Paul was 54 at the time of his death on Friday, which those close to him are calling the result of a major heart attack. Officially, no cause of death has been given.
The metal community poured its heart out to the late drummer, with tributes both on stage and on social media. Most notable was the tribute offered up by Anselmo, who had feuded bitterly with his former bandmate in the post-Pantera days. The metal frontman, who is currently active with several bands like Scour and his Philip H. Anselmo and The Illegals, wordlessly posted the picture of a vigil candle on his Instagram page.
While Pantera was not part of the big four of thrash (Pantera was always way more of a groove metal band), Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante paid his respects to the fellow icon of metal drumming. In his post he mentioned that Paul was the glue that held Pantera together. He also complemented the band by saying that Pantera re-taught him about metal.
Both Randy Blythe and fellow drummer Chris Adler of Lamb of God posted about Paul’s death. Blythe mentioned how Paul always treated him and the rest of Lamb of God like family (the kindness of Paul seems to be a recurring theme in these tributes), while Adler posted a picture of him wearing his Washington football club attire alongside Paul donning a Cowboys T-shirt.
Avenged Sevenfold related an anecdote about meeting Paul for the first time, specifically how excited The Rev was to meet heavy metal royalty. Again the band talks of the warmth that Paul displayed as they made a new friend, one that would eventually perform on stage with them at Revolver Golden Gods, which they called a career highlight (in a career full of highlight material). Also worth noting, the photo the band posted to their Instagram includes a photo-bomb courtesy of Coheed and Cambria’s Claudio Sanchez.
Alice Cooper kept it simple and classy, talking about his sadness at the news of Paul’s passing. He added “his impact on heavy music is immeasurable.”
Lars Ulrich of Metallica, perhaps one of only a handful of more-famous metal drummers than Vinnie Paul, added his sentiments on Twitter. In the post he praised Paul’s warm personality and inviting nature, promising that one day he would take another shot of Crown Royal and play some air hockey with the fellow drummer.
Meanwhile, a few bands took the time out of their sets to offer tribute to the late drummer. Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains explained before the band began to play “Nutshell” over the weekend, that they normally dedicate the song to their own late lead singer Layne Staley, but this time it was “for Vinnie Paul.”
At Hellfest, another band that reached success around the same era as Pantera, Megadeth, offered a song in tribute to Paul. Dave Mustaine said, “This next song we’re gonna do for you, we played it last night for the first time in almost 20 years; we haven’t played this song for a very long time. And we played this and we dedicated it to a friend of mine — all of ours — who passed away. This song is dedicated to you, Vinnie. This song is called ‘My Last Words’.” The song is from Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying? from 1986.
Photo Credit: Sharon Alagna
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