Former PANTERA Guitarist Talks About The Songwriting Approach In His New Band

Former PANTERA guitarist Dimebag Darrell recently spoke to Guitar One magazine about the songwriting approach in his new group, provisionally dubbed NEW FOUND POWER (a name which is likely to be changed).

"With my new band, I've kept my old-school roots, but we're laying down some new ground," he said. "We're doing more new shit, instead of just being stuck in that one chunk area. Now, there's plenty of that — don't worry about it — but moving forward is the shit. For me, it's always about the fucking riff. You gotta keep writing bad-ass riffs.

"The best shit I write is when I pick up the guitar and grab the tape recorder, because I know that something's gonna come out. I've never been frustrated and hit and wall and said, 'I can't come up with jack shit.' You can tune your guitar funky and something's gonna come out. There's no secret to it — either you got it or you don't.

"All I can say is, you better have that tape machine rollin', 'cause they don't always happen the same way twice."

When asked for his opinion on where heavy metal is headed next, Dimebag said, "I'm not the fucking guru on this shit, but it looks like people are getting back into old-school, kick-ass lead guitar playing. I always tell people that if you wanna express yourself, get up on those little strings and bend those motherfuckers. Make your heart bleed! Put your soul into that damn thing. And try new things. Who knew that [SLAYER guitarists] Kerry [King] and Jeff [Hannemann] were gonna come out with their own personal scales? They just whipped that fucking shit out on everybody. Most people were trying to play by the book, and these dudes said, 'Fuck you! We're gonna rewrite the whole fuckin' thing.' So who knows? I'm not gonna say it's all done, 'cause it ain't ever all done."

The band currently known as NEW FOUND POWER — which is completed by Dimebag's drummer brother Vinnie Paul (ex-PANTERA),DIESEL MACHINE/ex-HALFORD guitarist Patrick Lachman (on vocals) and ex-JERRY CANTRELL guitarist Shawn Matthews (on bass) — are in the process of finalizing a major-label deal for their debut album, tentatively due in early 2004. The much-anticipated effort will reportedly include a guest appearance by SLIPKNOT/STONE SOUR frontman Corey Taylor in a track called "Fuck You".