Vulgar Display of Ignorance

The following is an excerpt taken from an article posted by Mr. William Grim, a writer for The Iconoclast, located at www.iconoclast.ca

AESTHETICS OF HATE: R.I.P. DIMEBAG ABBOTT, & GOOD RIDDANCE
-- Time For Conservative Imagination!

by William Grim, Iconoclast Contributing Editor


"You've undoubtedly heard by now that a demented fan last week killed heavy metal guitarist Dimebag Abbott at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio. While I am extremely happy to hear that the assassin was shot to death by a brave Columbus policeman and I in no way want to engage in a blaming the victim scenario, I cannot deny that there much in Mr. Abbott's demise of one being hoisted on one's petard. The squalor, inhumanity, filth (both in the metaphorical and hygienic senses), depravity, ugliness and ignorance of everything that heavy metal represents (Like rap, I cannot use the noble term music in a description of heavy metal) creates a mindset among its devotees in which Mr. Abbott's assassination was an event that was all but waiting to happen.

It was highly amusing, and also terribly sad, to watch on television fans conducting a "vigil" for the slain Mr. Abbott outside of the Alrosa Villa. It was an assemblage of ignorant, semi-human barbarians who were filthy in attire and manner, intellectually incoherent and above all else, hideously ugly to the point of physical deformity. Here is a definite case in which the outer appearance of these "fans" accurately represented the hideousness of their souls. That the physical deformity of their ugliness was self-inflicted makes the spiritual tragedy of their misspent lives all the more tragic.

But one can see why the heavy metal fans so closely identified with Mr. Abbott. He was an ignorant, barbaric, untalented possessor of a guitar and large amplifier system. Freakish in appearance, more simian than human, he was the performer of a type of "entertainment" that can be likened only to a gorilla on PCP. Lacking subtlety, wit, style, emotional range and anything approaching even the smallest iota of intellectual or musical interest, Mr. Abbott was part of a generation that has confused sputum with art and involuntary reflex actions with emotion."

The full article in it's entirety can be read here.

---------------------------------------------------------------

I can't begin to explain the depths of scum that this individual has plumbed in order to write this article. Mocking the death of a human being is one thing, but to assault the people mourning his death is an entirely different matter. It takes a low form of human being to stoop to such depths, and as "cultured" as this asshole claims to be, he has exhibited a complete lack of intelligence, tact and humanity in the process of writing this tripe.

The only further editorial commentary I will provide on this subject will be the following. This is the body of an email I recently sent Mr. Grim, and it sums up my fellings about his bigoted ass pretty completely.


"Dear Mr. Grim,

I am a hardworking, upstanding member of society.

I have never committed a crime more serious than minor traffic offenses.

I have never had a warrant for my arrest and I have appeared in court on schedule for all two of my traffic offenses.

I have never gone out of my way to cause harm to another person's life.

I am a firm believer in the Christian faith.

I do not smoke tobacco, drink alcohol or consume any narcotic or mood-altering substances.

I pay my taxes, my insurance, my rent and my credit card bills on time and in full.

I buy Christmas and birthday gifts for my entire family every year.

I spend quality time with my family and friends on a regular basis.

I am a well-spoken, intelligent, caring, humane individual.

I am an avid fan of heavy metal.

You, on the other hand, have taken it upon yourself to mock the death of a fellow human being. You have taken it upon yourself to make light of the suffering of LEGIONS of people. You have taken it upon yourself to spread a hateful, spiteful, ill-informed, one-sided statement of UNBRIDLED BIGOTRY.

So, who's the asshole here?

You be the judge.

Thanks for your time,
Jonathan"

I'd highly recommend sending this worthless waste of protein your thoughts and responses on his spiteful, moronic opinions. You can direct your messages to his email address at [email protected]

Dimebag Darrell was ten-thousand times the man you will ever be, Mr. Grim.

First thing on my to-do list tomorrow.

HOLY FUCKING SHIT. What a fucking cock bag. This sorry piece of shit deserves to be smacked in the eye....

Also the first thing on my to do list tommorow. Thanks for the direction Raz.

What exactly did dimebag do that was so great?

He was one of the best guitarists found in the Heavy Metal genre. Can you imagine Pantera without his guitars? No, because no one would likely have even heard of the band.

Yeah Dimebag is one of the most badass Metal guitarists of all time, and he was in Pantera, one of the greatest Metal bands of all time.

The only thing I know of related to pantera is a movie I saw with them in it where they stuck people's faces in their arm pits and stuff. This is why I don't understand why this guy's death is so much more important than anyone elses.

That's not really it........... you just don't go insulting people's deaths anyways. That's fucked up, especially when its someone who makes music that tons of people love and enjoy. When you like a musician that much, he's almost like a piece of you. Don't get all "Let's bash people that hype up the deaths of celebrities"... sure, they are just ordinary people, but that's what makes what this guy is writing about wrong.

I'm not trying to bash anyone nor insult anyone's death. I'm just asking why its such a big deal that this guy died. Music is quite great, but it shouldn't make his death more important than anyone elses.

Does this thread say it is? If it does, I don't agree. But this moron who wrote that article seems to think that his death means less than other people's deaths.

The point of this thread isn't so much about Mr. Grim's complete lack of respect for Darrell, but moreso that he's mocking the shit out of the people who are mourning him. It's one thing to poke fun at the dead. I can handle that, seeing as how people do it all the time.

What I can't put up with is someone making a joke out of those who are mourning for the dead. The fact that this asshole is making light of the still-fresh suffering of literally millions of people is just abhorrent. His entire message is one of complete prejudice, total ignorance and vile bigotry. If you read the whole article, there's a point at which he criticizes the art world as a whole for accepting racist poems as legitimate poetry. However, the hypocritical shitwad goes on ranting throughout no less than ten paragraphs about how all metalheads are "uncultured, malformed, vile, horrid, worthless hunks of trash that deserve the violent death they're practically asking for."

That is what is so abhorrent about this article. I could deal with it if he was just bashing Dime. In fact, that's exactly what I expected to read. But, that's not what he did. He went further, and mocked the living shit out of Dime's brother Vinnie, who is a metalhead and played in various bands with him for over 25 years, Dime's fans, Dime's family and the remainder of the millions of people currently mourning his death. That's reprehensible, and the man deserves to be hit by a car for it.

King, you're completely missing the point of this thread.

Pretty much, thanks for being sweet and articulating much more efficiently for me Raziel.

Not a problem.

This elitist asshole deserves a thousand tons of unbridled rage crammed directly into his colon. Let him know just how pathetic and horrid his opinions are.

King, if you want an even better desription of why Dimebag Darrell's death is such a tremendous blow to the metal community, read this. It's a message posted by Robert Flynn, the frontman for Machine Head, explaining how much Dime meant to the metal community and how badly this has hurt everyone.

"I still can't believe it.

To say that Machine Head were devastated...there aren't even words. We found out about this unbelievable event while in Zagreb, Serbia. The sports arena we were playing had no phone lines, no internet, virtually zero cell reception, no TV, no heat. We had nothing but patchy info for the next few days as we played more shows in Eastern Europe, and frustration started to boil. It was impossible to call anyone, check e-mail, anything. It's only now that I've finally been able to sit down and read everything surrounding what happened.

That night, we dedicated 'Descend The Shades Of Night' to Dimebag, a man who inspired us in so many ways. I lost it on stage. We all lost it on stage. It's horrible. Things like this just don't happen. Musicians don't get KILLED on stage... while they're PLAYING... what the fuck? What the fuck is wrong with people?

Dimebag was one in a million. He was the Randy Rhoads, the Jimi Hendrix of our time. I'm not gonna try and make it look like Dime and I were best buddies, we weren't... but I would certainly call him a friend. I met Dimebag for the first time on Ozzfest in '97. He invited Logan and I into their dressing room, and I remember being so fuckin' stoked to be hanging out in the Pantera dressing room, like I had made it into some cool guy club. I loved Pantera, and tried my hardest to mask my excitement...I didn't do a very good job, 'cause Darrell kept coming up to me and saying "Damn dude, you look like you're doin' all right!", and all I could muster in the moment was "...yeah". He offered me a gazillion shots of whiskey that day, and over the next couple of months we hung out...not a lot, as I tried not to be a fan boy, but I couldn't help it, they were fucking amazing.

Eventually they asked us to support them on their headline run for Trendkill. It was here that we learned that it was okay to treat your support bands like equals - something we continue to practice to this day. That tour was one of the funnest, craziest, greatest god damned tours we have ever done, and none of us have, or will ever forget the opportunity, nor the experience. Like it was yesterday, I remember one night, Dimebag got wasted (as he sometimes did)...but I mean, WASTED! ...and during Coal Chamber's set, he grabs my backup guitar, goes out on stage and starts "air guitaring" with them during one of their songs. Coal Chamber looked around nervously and just kinda went with it... he then proceeded to smash my guitar down on the stage, completely shattering the neck. I thought to myself, "uh... okay, we're sorta on next... what do I do?" Then I figured, "eh, fuck it, I'll worry about it tomorrow".

After our set, we go out to watch Pantera. And let me just say, that to watch this man, who literally could not talk backstage, thinking all the while, "oh my GOD, this is gonna be a train wreck"... we all just stood there with our jaws on the floor as that motherfucker went out and played a perfectly fucking FLAWLESS show. Every rhythm, every lead... just NAILED it. It was in-fucking-human.

So the next day I go up to him and say "Hey man, do you remember what you did to my guitar last night?" He's like "Uh... refresh my memory"... so I say, "You... uh... smashed the neck in half"...to which he says "No shit dude?! I'll take care of you, no problem, don't worry!" He then had his tour manager give us TWICE as much money as it would cost to replace / repair the neck. And then a week later, while we're ON STAGE in Chicago, he comes out, and brings both Logan and I brand new, top-of-the-line Dimebag Darrell signature guitars - these things were worth probably 2500 dollars each - and he whispers in my ear, "Sorry about the neck, Carjacker" (a nickname he had
for me)... I mean, COME ON!?

The next time we saw him, he played us some "just finished" mixes for the then-unreleased Reinventing The Steel record at he and Vinnie's Club. We were all worshipping. We drank shitloads, and he even rocked on the vodka with us, rather than the whiskey, just 'cause he remembered that The Head like vodka. A week later I get a package at our hotel in Pittsburg... he had sent 4 one-liter bottles of expensive-ass Ketel One vodka, all the way from Texas, with a note that read "Carjacker, it was killer hanging out with you the other night. Remember, it's Goddamn Electric! -Your brother Dime". That's the type of guy he was, such a giving person. 200 bucks worth of vodka? Bah, no problem.

The last time I saw him was at Download / Donington this year. He told me he was "blown away" by our new record. "Record of the year" he kept saying. To hear him say that really meant a lot. I mean it REALLY meant a lot. To be honest, and this is just a hunch, but I think it was the first record of ours that he really liked. My impression was always that he thought our other records were...good.

So he's backstage warming up on my Black V after his guitar was rushed onstage, and he promises to send me more vodka for letting him "warm up"...to which I reply "Dude, don't even think about it".

Right after Download I got to thinking about he and Vinnie, and I ended up faxing him a letter to wish him well with Damageplan, remind him that he'd better not be thinking about sending me bottles of vodka, and to tell him how much of an influence Pantera was on me / us, and in particular, his playing, his guitar tone, the lyrics about unity - everything - had been on Machine Head, especially early on. It was something I'd always wanted to say to him, and even though we had toured with them, twice even...for some reason I always clammed up, or got insecure about saying it when I was around him.

Right before we went out on this last tour, he calls me up around midnight, I'm driving home at the time and happen to be awake. He tells me he has someone who wants to talk to me, so I say "Oh, yeah?", and he puts me on the
phone with this HUGE Machine Head fan...apparently the kid had walked into
this Mexican restaurant, ran into Darrell, and during their conversation they both got to talking about how much they loved Through The Ashes..., and the kid says to Darrell, "Robert Flynn's my idol, I'd do anything to meet him". So Dime whips out his phone and says, "Let's call him!". So there I am, talking to this kid for like 15 minutes, mostly about how much we both love Pantera...soon afterward he puts Dimebag back on, and we talk for another half hour or so, mostly about the aforementioned letter. He told me that he was genuinely moved by it.

In retrospect, I'm really glad I that I finally got to say those things to him.

He had more of an effect on the four of us than he could possibly imagine.

Some people consider it "un-metal" to be a giving person, but I tell you what, that guy right there was one of the most giving people that you could ever meet, and he was as Metal as it fuckin' gets.

To Nathan Bray, the courageous fan who jumped on stage to perform CPR on Darrell and died trying to save his life...you are a true hero, and your
death is no less significant than Dime's, nor were the lives of Erin "Stoney" Halk or Jeffrey "Mayhem" Thompson.

To James Niggemeyer, the policeman that shot and killed that twisted freak that had the gall to call himself a "fan", I commend you. You deserve a medal of honor.

To Blabbermouth.net, and the people that post there, you have all never stood taller in my eyes. The wealth of information that has been brought forward by the editor, and the class with which it has been presented, is truly unprecedented. In addition, the level of respect and empathy shown to each other - and especially to the mother of Nathan Bray, who wrote that heart-wrenching letter - was sincerely admirable.

To the politicians who are claiming that this is what Heavy Metal breeds. You don't know what the hell you're even talking about.

And lastly, to the hatemongering son-of-a-bitch named William Grim, from conservative website The Iconoclast, who wrote the most disgraceful,
classless article I've ever read entitled "AESTHETICS OF HATE: R.I.P.
DIMEBAG ABBOTT, & GOOD RIDDANCE".

You WILL burn in hell!

What would YOU know about love or values? What would YOU know about giving to the world? All that you know is teaching prejudice, and your heart is as black as the "ignorant, filthy, and hideously ugly, Heavy Metal fans" you try and paint in your twisted, fictitious ramblings. It's because of people like YOU, that there are Nathan Gale's in this world, NOT the Dimebags and Metal musicians who work to unite people through music.

You just don't get it.

You say, "Americans should aspire to greatness". Well, Dimebag was an American that did more than "aspire" to greatness. He was an American that "achieved" it. And you will NEVER know what it is to taste greatness William Grim. Because in order to achieve greatness, you must first believe in the greatness of people, no matter how "ugly" or "fat" or "stupid" they are, on the outside...and Dimebag did just that.

Long live Dimebag Darrell in the hearts of us all."

-Robert Flynn

That's amazing.

King, if you want an even better desription of why Dimebag Darrell's death is such a tremendous blow to the metal community, read this. It's a message posted by Robert Flynn, the frontman for Machine Head, explaining how much Dime meant to the metal community and how badly this has hurt everyone. "I still can't believe it. To say that Machine Head were devastated...there aren't even words. We found out about this unbelievable event while in Zagreb, Serbia. The sports arena we were playing had no phone lines, no internet, virtually zero cell reception, no TV, no heat. We had nothing but patchy info for the next few days as we played more shows in Eastern Europe, and frustration started to boil. It was impossible to call anyone, check e-mail, anything. It's only now that I've finally been able to sit down and read everything surrounding what happened. That night, we dedicated 'Descend The Shades Of Night' to Dimebag, a man who inspired us in so many ways. I lost it on stage. We all lost it on stage. It's horrible. Things like this just don't happen. Musicians don't get KILLED on stage... while they're PLAYING... what the fuck? What the fuck is wrong with people? Dimebag was one in a million. He was the Randy Rhoads, the Jimi Hendrix of our time. I'm not gonna try and make it look like Dime and I were best buddies, we weren't... but I would certainly call him a friend. I met Dimebag for the first time on Ozzfest in '97. He invited Logan and I into their dressing room, and I remember being so fuckin' stoked to be hanging out in the Pantera dressing room, like I had made it into some cool guy club. I loved Pantera, and tried my hardest to mask my excitement...I didn't do a very good job, 'cause Darrell kept coming up to me and saying "Damn dude, you look like you're doin' all right!", and all I could muster in the moment was "...yeah". He offered me a gazillion shots of whiskey that day, and over the next couple of months we hung out...not a lot, as I tried not to be a fan boy, but I couldn't help it, they were fucking amazing. Eventually they asked us to support them on their headline run for Trendkill. It was here that we learned that it was okay to treat your support bands like equals - something we continue to practice to this day. That tour was one of the funnest, craziest, greatest god damned tours we have ever done, and none of us have, or will ever forget the opportunity, nor the experience. Like it was yesterday, I remember one night, Dimebag got wasted (as he sometimes did)...but I mean, WASTED! ...and during Coal Chamber's set, he grabs my backup guitar, goes out on stage and starts "air guitaring" with them during one of their songs. Coal Chamber looked around nervously and just kinda went with it... he then proceeded to smash my guitar down on the stage, completely shattering the neck. I thought to myself, "uh... okay, we're sorta on next... what do I do?" Then I figured, "eh, fuck it, I'll worry about it tomorrow". After our set, we go out to watch Pantera. And let me just say, that to watch this man, who literally could not talk backstage, thinking all the while, "oh my GOD, this is gonna be a train wreck"... we all just stood there with our jaws on the floor as that motherfucker went out and played a perfectly fucking FLAWLESS show. Every rhythm, every lead... just NAILED it. It was in-fucking-human. So the next day I go up to him and say "Hey man, do you remember what you did to my guitar last night?" He's like "Uh... refresh my memory"... so I say, "You... uh... smashed the neck in half"...to which he says "No shit dude?! I'll take care of you, no problem, don't worry!" He then had his tour manager give us TWICE as much money as it would cost to replace / repair the neck. And then a week later, while we're ON STAGE in Chicago, he comes out, and brings both Logan and I brand new, top-of-the-line Dimebag Darrell signature guitars - these things were worth probably 2500 dollars each - and he whispers in my ear, "Sorry about the neck, Carjacker" (a nickname he had for me)... I mean, COME ON!? The next time we saw him, he played us some "just finished" mixes for the then-unreleased Reinventing The Steel record at he and Vinnie's Club. We were all worshipping. We drank shitloads, and he even rocked on the vodka with us, rather than the whiskey, just 'cause he remembered that The Head like vodka. A week later I get a package at our hotel in Pittsburg... he had sent 4 one-liter bottles of expensive-ass Ketel One vodka, all the way from Texas, with a note that read "Carjacker, it was killer hanging out with you the other night. Remember, it's Goddamn Electric! -Your brother Dime". That's the type of guy he was, such a giving person. 200 bucks worth of vodka? Bah, no problem. The last time I saw him was at Download / Donington this year. He told me he was "blown away" by our new record. "Record of the year" he kept saying. To hear him say that really meant a lot. I mean it REALLY meant a lot. To be honest, and this is just a hunch, but I think it was the first record of ours that he really liked. My impression was always that he thought our other records were...good. So he's backstage warming up on my Black V after his guitar was rushed onstage, and he promises to send me more vodka for letting him "warm up"...to which I reply "Dude, don't even think about it". Right after Download I got to thinking about he and Vinnie, and I ended up faxing him a letter to wish him well with Damageplan, remind him that he'd better not be thinking about sending me bottles of vodka, and to tell him how much of an influence Pantera was on me / us, and in particular, his playing, his guitar tone, the lyrics about unity - everything - had been on Machine Head, especially early on. It was something I'd always wanted to say to him, and even though we had toured with them, twice even...for some reason I always clammed up, or got insecure about saying it when I was around him. Right before we went out on this last tour, he calls me up around midnight, I'm driving home at the time and happen to be awake. He tells me he has someone who wants to talk to me, so I say "Oh, yeah?", and he puts me on the phone with this HUGE Machine Head fan...apparently the kid had walked into this Mexican restaurant, ran into Darrell, and during their conversation they both got to talking about how much they loved Through The Ashes..., and the kid says to Darrell, "Robert Flynn's my idol, I'd do anything to meet him". So Dime whips out his phone and says, "Let's call him!". So there I am, talking to this kid for like 15 minutes, mostly about how much we both love Pantera...soon afterward he puts Dimebag back on, and we talk for another half hour or so, mostly about the aforementioned letter. He told me that he was genuinely moved by it. In retrospect, I'm really glad I that I finally got to say those things to him. He had more of an effect on the four of us than he could possibly imagine. Some people consider it "un-metal" to be a giving person, but I tell you what, that guy right there was one of the most giving people that you could ever meet, and he was as Metal as it fuckin' gets. To Nathan Bray, the courageous fan who jumped on stage to perform CPR on Darrell and died trying to save his life...you are a true hero, and your death is no less significant than Dime's, nor were the lives of Erin "Stoney" Halk or Jeffrey "Mayhem" Thompson. To James Niggemeyer, the policeman that shot and killed that twisted freak that had the gall to call himself a "fan", I commend you. You deserve a medal of honor. To Blabbermouth.net, and the people that post there, you have all never stood taller in my eyes. The wealth of information that has been brought forward by the editor, and the class with which it has been presented, is truly unprecedented. In addition, the level of respect and empathy shown to each other - and especially to the mother of Nathan Bray, who wrote that heart-wrenching letter - was sincerely admirable. To the politicians who are claiming that this is what Heavy Metal breeds. You don't know what the hell you're even talking about. And lastly, to the hatemongering son-of-a-bitch named William Grim, from conservative website The Iconoclast, who wrote the most disgraceful, classless article I've ever read entitled "AESTHETICS OF HATE: R.I.P. DIMEBAG ABBOTT, & GOOD RIDDANCE". You WILL burn in hell! What would YOU know about love or values? What would YOU know about giving to the world? All that you know is teaching prejudice, and your heart is as black as the "ignorant, filthy, and hideously ugly, Heavy Metal fans" you try and paint in your twisted, fictitious ramblings. It's because of people like YOU, that there are Nathan Gale's in this world, NOT the Dimebags and Metal musicians who work to unite people through music. You just don't get it. You say, "Americans should aspire to greatness". Well, Dimebag was an American that did more than "aspire" to greatness. He was an American that "achieved" it. And you will NEVER know what it is to taste greatness William Grim. Because in order to achieve greatness, you must first believe in the greatness of people, no matter how "ugly" or "fat" or "stupid" they are, on the outside...and Dimebag did just that. Long live Dimebag Darrell in the hearts of us all." -Robert Flynn

I definitely agree with the second to last paragraph, and I'm sure Darrell was a great person.