Frank Bello Of ANTHRAX Fame’s Tribute To Dimebag in News

Well doesn’t time go fast; it seriously only feels like a couple of years ago that Dimebag was killed by that piece of shit whose name doesn’t even deserve a mention here. But then when I think about things a bit better, the time seems to make sense, hell I’ve been living in Melbourne for over two years now and attended tribute shows in Sydney when the tragedy struck.

For those youngens out there who have been living under a rock listening to Asking Alexandria or some other such nonsense for the past half decade Dimebag (Darrell Abbott) was killed on stage in Columbus, Ohio on December 8^th but a 25 year old ex-Marine who, as the theory goes, blamed Dimebag for the breakup of his beloved Pantera. He managed to assassinate 4 people and wound an additional 3 before police arrived and ended his miserable life with a shotgun blast to the back (thankfully just in time as the bastard was reloading).

The loss was felt across the globe with hundreds of tribute shows popping up over the coming months and it is a sign of the respect and love that we held for Dimebag that sees these shows continue happening.

But, I hear you asking, what of Frank Bello, how did Dimebag touch his life? In a recent interview with Revolver Magazine he had this to say;

“We were so close to him,” Bello said. “He was one of us. Dimebag was the sixth member of ANTHRAX, because he played on the last few records. I thought paying tribute to him in song was a great idea.

“I lost a brother 13 years ago. He was murdered. And then to have Dimebag go in such a bad, traumatic way — he’s one of our brothers. Dimebag was like a brother to me.

“We had a lot of good times. That ANTHRAX-PANTERA tour [in 1997], that was a scary tour. The shows were great. But on that tour, I brought a parasite home with me from Mexico in my stomach. So I couldn’t hold anything in my stomach including liquor. Now imagine being on a PANTERA tour without drinking liquor. At one point, it was so bad because everything I put in my body, it was like a funnel — it came right out of my body. So I would have to run from these guys and hide. Because Dime’s chasing me with this Black Tooth [Grin, Dime's signature drink, which was a shot of Crown Royal or Seagram’s 7 with a splash of Coke]. He’d be yelling, ‘Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!’ So I’m shooting this thing with a beer right after it.

“Dude, I swear to God, as soon as it went in my system, I was right on the bowl. So I laugh at that now, because I remember Dime laughing at me. As soon as I shot the Black Tooth, he’d go, ‘You’ve gotta go now, right?’ And he’d laugh. It was a great time. Of course it was painful for me, but it was a great thing for Dimebag. Those are the things you remember. It’s a time in your life I’ll never forget. I love them and I miss them. Only the good die young.”

Dimebag had worked with the boys from Anthrax on a number of their albums, contributing solos to Stomp 442 as well as Volume 8 and last but not least We’ve Come For You All. On Anthrax’s latest album Worship Music there is a song that is dedicated to the loving memory of not only Dimebag but also the legendary Ronnie James Dio.

This latest Anthrax album is brilliant, I love every song on it and it is being hailed their most consistent and rocking work since albums such as Persistence of Time.