Pantera was indisputably the most massive metal band of the ’90s, carrying the torch of metal through the grunge years and carving out a sound that was all their own. Today, on the 10th anniversary of the senseless murder of guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott at the hands of a deranged fan, we salute the force of nature that was Pantera and remember a fallen brother. Forget your tears and moments of silence, today we throw back a drink and crank this shit up, because that’s the way that Dime would’ve wanted it.

Check out the first single from Pantera’s final studio album, Reinventing The Steel. This is “Revolution Is My Name.”

When I was growing up in rural Indiana in the early ’80s, there was very limited access to heavy music. These were the days before MTV blew up with the whole hair metal, Headbangers Ball phenomenon. But on Sunday nights, there was a two-hour radio show that came from WOXY, the radio station of Miami University of Ohio, just across the state line in Oxford, Ohio. It was called Massive Metal for the Masses and I would wait all week for it to air. It was through this show that I was introduced to bands like Venom, Bathory, WASP, Michael Schenker Group, Slayer, and countless others. This Monday weekly column is my tip of the hat to that show. I call it Massive Metal Monday. Every week, I will pay tribute to defining moments by the artists that laid the groundwork for heavy metal to become the worldwide cultural bond for all of us metal heads.

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