Although rock music is often considered to be quite versatile since it has its roots in several genres, many assume that metal has less of a range. This creates the illusion that metal musicians have been inspired primarily by artists exploring a similar sound and prefer to collaborate only with fellow metal musicians, which is usually not the case.
For instance, the Pantera icon Dimebag Darrell was influenced by many bands in the metal scene, such as Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, and Van Halen, but also had several sources of inspiration from country music. One of the primary reasons for this was that his father was a producer and songwriter in that genre.
While not many can think of the famous country musician singing along with Dimebag Darrell, David Allan Coe, whose musical style combines blues, rock, and country music, actually worked with the metal icon. After meeting for the first time, the two artists combined their sound perfectly into one country metal album.
It all began in 1999, when David Allan Coe met Pantera’s guitar player Dimebag Darrell in Fort Worth, Texas. Their mutual love for both country music and heavy metal didn’t go unnoticed, and the duo instantly decided to collaborate. Shortly afterward, Coe and Darrell began working on an album, also featuring the other Pantera members.
They recorded the album sporadically between 1999 and 2003. However, a tragic event put a halt to this project. Dimebag Darrell was shot by a deranged fan named Nathan Gale on December 8, 2004, during a Damageplan show. Unfortunately, the musician was pronounced dead at the scene at the age of 38.
The album ‘Rebel Meets Rebel’ was released in 2006, two years after Darrell’s murder. After it came out, many fans and music critics realized the record carried the impeccable harmony of both artists. Hence, most described it as an astounding mixture of country music and heavy metal. In addition to their united sound, Dimebag Darrell’s guitar playing was praised by critics for its versatile elements, from thrash metal to dark melodic playing.
