Damageplan was a short-lived American heavy metal band from Dallas, Texas that formed in 2003 out of the ashes of the legendary Pantera.
Following the demise of their previous group Pantera, the Abbott brothers (guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul) wanted to start a new band. The pair recruited former Halford guitarist Pat Lachman on vocals, and tattoo artist Bob Zilla on bass. Damageplan released its debut album New Found Power in the United States on February 10, 2004, which debuted at number 38 on the Billboard 200, selling 44,676 copies in its first week.
While Damageplan was promoting the album at a concert at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio on December 8, 2004, a former U.S. marine named Nathan Gale climbed on stage and murdered Darrell, two members of the band’s crew, and a local concert goer. Although no motive was found, some witnesses claimed Gale blamed the brothers for Pantera’s breakup and believed that they had stolen his lyrics, though other reports say that Gale was schizophrenic and believed that the band was “reading his thoughts and laughing at him”. Gale was killed by police officer James Niggemeyer, who was found to have acted accordingly by the Franklin County prosecutor’s office. The band’s manager confirmed there are unreleased Damageplan recordings, although they have not surfaced, and the band has not performed since the incident. Vinnie Paul and Bob Zilla joined the band Hellyeah, and Lachman joined The Mercy Clinic. |
