The 5th Anniversary of The Assassination of Dimebag Darrell

I am first and foremost an artist.

Less than a notch down the alley comes my next passion which is music. Less than a notch I say because both can’t come to be in perfect symmetry with each other, but I always felt each has owned a side of my filthy black heart. It’s just that I would have to place art to be in the left ventricle where the artery pumps out the blood. Having said that, I must say I have quite managed a marriage of both by way of hobby.

Hobby. Goddamn it hurts like hell to even say the word. 

You can check out that profile picture of mine and you’ll see as to how I make a release of my ‘manageable’ demons. Not an original I must admit, but it’s how I find inspiration for art. Through music. And vice versa. I’m sure there are more than a million folks out there like me. The incendiary genius Chuck Klosterman already unyieldingly stated it about us metalheads- ‘you think you’re weird but you’re not, there’s more than a million people out there like you’.

Now there’s one artist out there who’s gone out to set fire sending sparks of debate throughout the entire heavy metal and art community. I ain’t one to be guru in the philosophy of both, though I have my opinion. First time I heard there was an auction of a painting of this supposedly ‘assassination scene’ of one of my heroes, Dimebag (now that’s why it was a Dean in my pic), I was stoked! I had but a thousand ideas swirling over my head as to how that dark day, which is on it’s Fifth year by tomorrow (or today depending on which side of the globe you’re at), is to be represented. I thought of Neo-classical paintings, of Caravaggio, of The School of Athens by Raphael. Lo and behold it was the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles turned up all in the wrong direction. I felt some guilty twitchin’ in my guts the moment I saw it.

The Assassination of Dimebag Darrell by Tom Sanford

It was art, okay. Depending on how you define it. And art is perception. It is opinion. Others may celebrate the life of someone who did an orange line in a canvass, but I’ll be better off spittin’ on his grave. This, for me, is not art. It’s desecration. And whether it gets mainstream propping I’m not one to give credit for its artistry, if there's any. It had evidently used controversy to turn it to one big bandwagon. Much worse, there are hungry vultures out there that are made for such carrion.

Somewhere in some longitude, it is the fifth year anniversary of one of the darkest days in metal. In a few hours, Metal Hammer will be shipping out its 200^th issue with the Tribute to Dimebag cd.  And the troops of doom are out for it. The tracklisting has been out for quite some time now (check this link > tracklist), and I have my own choices I’m too eager to catch. Now I just pray it’ll be sending so much of a ripple to thrash that painting to the bin, and never again make claim as a tribute of some sort.

 Rest In Peace, Cowboy. May you have all the Black Tooth Grin heaven can offer.