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Pantera/Coe Album Unearthed For May Release

February 24, 2006, 4:00 PM ET

Todd Martens, L.A.
After the tragic on-stage murder of "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott in December 2004, few were aware that three of the four members of Pantera had a full album in the vaults.

On May 2, Dimebag's brother and Pantera/Damageplan drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott will inaugurate his independent Big Vin Records with the release of "Rebel Meets Rebel." The album pairs the Abbott brothers and Pantera bassist Rex Brown with country music outlaw David Allen Coe.

"Some of the songs are about gambling, some of them are about broken hearts and some are about drinking," Abbott tells Billboard.com. "There's stuff on there that's balls-out metal, and there's stuff that's country. There's even a flamenco guitar song."

Pantera regularly took to the stage while Coe's "Jack Daniels If You Please" played in the background. Dimebag met Coe after one of his shows and gave him some Pantera merchandise after the set. Thus began a friendship.

"The next time Coe was in town he brought the tour bus to Dime's house and we all got loaded," Abbott says. "The next morning we were in the studio recording a record."

Abbott says that he and his brother had hoped to release the album after recording a second Damageplan record. After the breakup of Pantera and the launch of Damageplan, Abbott says the two feared fans would be confused by another project.

Also on May 2, Big Vin will release "Dimevision Vol. 1," a DVD that collects behind-the-scenes footage of Dimebag. Abbott dismisses those who think he may be cashing in on his brother's legacy. "If the roles were reversed and I was gone, I would want him to be as gung-ho about this as I am," he says. "Anyone who says I'm cashing in can kiss my ass. Nobody knows the pain I've been through."

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