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A New Zealand mother has reportedly named her three children Metallica, Slayer and Pantera.The news of the unidentified woman's choice of names for her kids was first broken by New Zealand journalist and documentary filmmaker David Farrier (Netflix's "Dark Tourist")."Proud to report that a New Zealand mother has named her children Metallica, Pantera and Slayer," Farrier wrote on his Twitter. "She told me, 'It's not easy raising three of the heaviest bands.'"Farrier went on to say that he has seen the birth certificates of all three kids and admitted that he was was initially suspicious, especially after noticing that Metallica...

Remembering Dimebag James Greene Jr. “Dimebag” Darrell Lance Abbott was murdered six years ago today in an incident just as shocking and callous as John Lennon‘s murder on the same evening in 1980. Lennon will always get the lion’s share of remembrances every December 8th, but no metal fan should feel any jealousy or bitterness over that. Comparing these guys isn’t just apples and oranges—it’s apples and kumquats. I mean that strictly in artistic terms, of course. By all accounts, Dimebag Darrell was just as outgoing and personable and funny a human being as Mr. Ono, a fact some outside...

I wanted to get all of your takes on something that irked me. Some of you probably heard about the murder of heavy metal star "Dimebag" Darell Abbott (formerly of Pantera) and several other people by a fan at a club here in Columbus, Ohio, last month. Today, the Columbus Dispatch ran a large story about the killing. Their picture of the killer, Nathan Gale was of him in his Marin Corps uniform. Gale had been discharged from the Marines after serving less than two years of a four-year stint because of issues related to his weight, and, possibly, his...

HEROES The DamagePlan Shootings - Columbus, Ohio - Dec 8, 2004 Today I was contacted by two local Columbus Roadies that were both eyewitnesses to the DamagePlan Shootings exactly one week ago tonight in Columbus Ohio at the Alrosa Villa club. They are members of the local stage crew in Columbus, and work several venues including the Alrosa. "Jon" is the club's stage manager and "Tubbs" is the club's F.O.H. (Front of House Sound Man) and was working monitors that fateful night as he normally did when a national act like DamagePlan played the club. Neither Jon nor Tubbs have...

The mother of the man who gunned down former Pantera guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott and three others during a concert said her son was discharged from the military because he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. Mary Clark said that her son, Nathan Gale, was released from the Marines in 2003 after the military diagnosed the disorder. [snip] Gale, 25, charged the stage at a show by Abbott's new band, Damageplan, on Dec. 8 at a Columbus nightclub. He opened fire before Police Officer James Niggemeyer shot him to death. Clark said Niggemeyer had no choice. "I give that man credit," Clark...

Part of the hard work of civilization is teaching young to be able to distinguish between the good and the bad in all aspects of life. If we teach our young children to obey the 10 Commandments and to obey the laws of the land, but don't teach them to realize that Johann Sebastian Bach is superior to Dimebag Abbott, we have failed as parents and mentors. If a person has gone through 12 or 13 years of education and has not developed an appreciation for the greatest artistic achievements of mankind, that education has been an utter failure. While...

The man who shot former Pantera guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott and three other men to death at a nightclub was obsessed with the popular heavy metal band and made bizarre accusations against it, a onetime friend said in reports published Friday. Jeramie Brey said gunman Nathan Gale once showed up at a friend's house saying he wanted to share songs he had written. The pages of lyrics were copied from Pantera, but Gale claimed he had written them, Brey said. "He was off his rocker," Brey told The Columbus Dispatch. "He said they were his songs, that Pantera stole them...

Police Officer James D. Niggemeyer shot and killed the gunman, Nathan Gale. Nathan Gale " Dimebag " Darrell Abbott, Lead guitarist Nathan Bray, Fan Erin A . Halk, Club employee Jeff " Mayhem " Thompson, Band crew member Shortly before Damageplan took the stage at the Alrosa Villa, a man approached the band’s bus behind the North Side nightclub. He wanted to know if lead guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott and his brother, drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott, were onboard. Aaron Barns, the heavy-metal group’s sound man, told him the brothers had already gone in the club. "The next time I...

An unlikely assortment of retired neighbors and young fans gathered Thurdsay outside the home of Darrell "Dimebag" Abbott, leaving flowers, a Confederate flag and a poster declaring him "the people's rock star". The 38-year-old guitarist, who was fatally shot during a performance Wednesday night in Columbus, Ohio, was remembered in this semi-rural enclave as an approachable star who never strayed far from his roots in blue-collar Arlington. "He was a hick with an attitude, and I say that respectfully," said neighbor Jim Evans, 63, a retired computer executive who said he frequently walked dogs with Abbott. "We'd talk conservative politics....

VANITY of VANITIES

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Reuters) - A man charged on stage and opened fire at a heavy metal band and fans at a crowded bar, killing four people and wounding two others before being killed by police, officials said on Thursday. Among the dead was "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, guitarist for the band Damageplan, who witnesses said appeared to have been singled out by the gunman and shot several times at close range. Some witnesses told police the 25-year-old gunman, Nathan Gale of nearby Marysville, Ohio, shouted, "You broke up Pantera" before gunning down Abbott and firing at other band members and the...

AN OHIO heavy-metal concert turned into a bloodbath when a crazed man jumped on stage, fatally shot the former guitarist of the legendary rock band Pantera and killed three others before being shot dead by a quick-thinking cop, police said yesterday. The apparent target of the Wednesday-night massacre in Columbus, Ohio, was shaggy-haired guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, 38, playing with his new band, Damageplan, which he formed last year after leaving the Grammy-nominated Pantera. [snip] Fans said the shooter, Nathan Gale, 24, a tall, heavy-set offensive lineman for a semi-pro football team, seemed to be an angry Pantera fan...

When I was thirteen, I had the best group of friends a kid could ask for. There was the goofball, the student, the lackey(s), the rich kid, and a few others who fit the various white suburban archetypes. As every other generation of the twentieth century, music was a large tie that bound us. The various groups of friends in junior high and high school were graphed according to their particular musical preferences, and ours was heavy metal. Not the fun metal of the 80's, but the dark, deep, and passionate metal of the early 90's. The forefront of this...

When I was thirteen, I had the best group of friends a kid could ask for. There was the goofball, the student, the lackey(s), the rich kid, and a few others who fit the various white suburban archetypes. As every other generation of the twentieth century, music was a large tie that bound us. The various groups of friends in junior high and high school were graphed according to their particular musical preferences, and ours was heavy metal. Not the fun metal of the 80's, but the dark, deep, and passionate metal of the early 90's. The forefront of this...

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- At least three people died and four others were wounded after a shooting at a Columbus nightclub on Wednesday night, NBC 4 reported. The shooting took place shortly after 10 p.m. at Alrosa Villa, located at 5055 Sinclair Road. Two members of the heavy metal band Damageplan were reportedly shot and killed, including Dimebag Darrell, formerly with the band Pantera, NBC 4's David Wayne reported. The alleged gunman also died at the scene, Wayne reported.

At Least 3 Dead, 4 Wounded In Nightclub Shooting Witnesses: Alleged Gunman Went Onto Stage, Fired Shots POSTED: 10:32 pm EST December 8, 2004 UPDATED: 11:36 pm EST December 8, 2004 COLUMBUS, Ohio -- At least three people died and four others were wounded after a shooting at a Columbus nightclub on Wednesday night, NBC 4 reported. The shooting took place shortly after 10 p.m. at Alrosa Villa, located at 5055 Sinclair Road. Two members of the heavy metal band Damageplan were reportedly shot and killed, including Dimebag Darrell, formerly with the band Pantera, NBC 4's David Wayne reported. The...