A Look Into the Eyes of a Titan

In 2004, the heavy metal world was shocked to its core after the loss of one of its most well known and well loved artists, “Dimebag” Darrell Abbot. A single act of violence, took a treasure of a man from a community that he had given so much to over the years but his legacy wouldn’t end there. The first Dimevision CD/DVD set was released to memorialize Darrell and to shed light on the life of the man behind the guitar where Dimevision Vol. 2 is a celebration and a look into the eyes of a titan.The big surprise is that the 5 track album isn’t full of lost tracks from previous bands such as Pantera or Damageplan, it is entirely comprised of solo work that Abbott did for fun between tours. The album that accompanies the DVD spans from the mid ’80s to early ’00s and each features a different side of Abbot’s interests in an unpolished fashion that makes it easy to picture him kicking back in his home studio with a Dean Razorback in his lap, bottle of whiskey on the table next to him, and a freshly emptied glass next to it.

The first track and the last track on the album “Twisted” and “Whiskey Road” respectively both have a strong have a country feel to them — the compositions are solid and could very well have seen mainstream airplay had it been recorded on some big fancy studio in the Hollywood Hills or something to that effect. But that’s the beauty of it, it’s just him and his guitar recording simply for fun without ever thinking that any of these recordings would see the light of day as becomes apparent by the lengthy trademark Dimebag Darrell guitar solo that takes up the entire second half of the song on “Whiskey Road” to bring the album to a close.

There is more than one branch away from the style of music that earned him the respect admiration of millions, as the synth and keyboard heavy, drum looped “True” proves. The song leaves a lot to be desired, but the thought of a not so hard and heavy Dimebag Darrell running around in rainbow spandex, a keyboard guitar, and entirely too much Aquanet that the song evokes is such a fun and lighthearted way to celebrate the evolution of one of the most renowned metal guitarists of a generation, and to be thankful that he ended up in a band like Pantera instead of a band like Flock of Seagulls.

In all, the CD attachment of Dimevision Vol. 2 is a fun way to look back on one of the all time greats, and get the rare opportunity to understand the man behind the music in a meaningful and and celebratory manner. It shows the many musical sides of the man outside of what he was most renowned for, when he was cutting loose in a studio with just his thoughts and a way to put them into our ears one day. It’s eerie knowing that 13 years after his death Dimebag Darrell’s music lives on to be released upon the world, immortalizing him.