[via Daily Swarm]

The slaying of Pantera’s legendary guitarist Dimebag Darrell, onstage, by a one-time fan who’d lost his shit entirely, is nothing short of a horribly fucked up tragedy. Even for those who dislike metal, upon hearing the news of such a savage, brutal killing, the sadness immediately resonated with everyone. Not a single person would disagree that this was a total loss for the music community.

News surfaced this October that the controversial 2005 “The Assassination of Dimebag Darrell” by New York-based artist Tom Sanford is to be auctioned off on November 21st. This has given rise to a whole lot of vitriol from the metal nation and beyond. Some feel Sanford is exploiting the death of Dimebag Darrell. Some think the whole idea of it is in poor taste. While many others, including myself, think it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense that metal fans would be offended by an artist’s portrayal of violence, and that also the most offensive thing here is how truly terrible the painting is. There’s a clownish aspect to it that I do not like at all. A better artist might have actually pulled this off.

What do you think?

I’m still waiting on commentary from my cousin, who was actually there at the Columbus, Ohio show when Dimebag was slain. I don’t know how much he saw, since him and his girlfriend were probably just trying to get the hell out of there without getting shot, but he might have a interesting take on the matter.

UPDATE. Just a short note from my cousin: “As being a witness to the event, that is not an accurate depiction at all. I don’t mind that someone is painting the tragedy. Tragedies have been painted throughout time. RIP Dimebag…  You were killed by a coward.”

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