If Pantera and Rage Against the Machine have one thing in common — aside from both being high voltage metal bands with undisputed reputations as two of the best live bands ever — it’s that they each had a groundbreaking guitar genius at the wheel. One was a more old-school virtuoso who took the art of shredding to a new level (see what we did there?); the other, an innovative noisemaker who treated his instrument like a turntable with limitless possibilities of sound. It makes sense then that RATM guitarist Tom Morello should have great admiration for his counterpart in Pantera, one Dimebag Darrell — which he expressed to us when we asked him to pick his favorite Pantera song.
It’s my favorite because the riff is unbelievably great. I first heard the song when I saw the video. The band was just jamming out hard and destroying the world. I remember wishing I had written that riff. I fucking love it! I only met Dime once and, of course, he poured, like, five shots of some toxic Jäger concoction down my throat before we even said hello, and then gave me a big hug. I was very flattered that he was a fan of my playing, and I’m so glad I got to meet him in person and “talk metal.” No doubt he is shredding his ass off up in Heaven and hosting the after party as well.