Chances are that everyone reading this review is well aware of the enormity of the loss seven years ago of the most brilliant heavy metal guitarist to ever grace this Earth, "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, at the way too young age of 38. Chances are you also know he was the most electrifying force behind Pantera, the Texas quartet who not only sold millions of albums and still hung out with its legions of fans before and after sold-out shows, but who set a new standard for heavy metal excellence in the '90s with classic albums such as major label debut Cowboys From Hell (1990) and especially Vulgar Display of Power (1992).
As a companion to the book and CD of the same name that was based on DD's popular Guitar World columns and which was coauthored by good friend Nick Bowcott in 2003, this Riffer Madness DVD (Alfred Music Publishing) is a fun and rich visual display of many of the late guitarist's most powerful riffs, notes, chords, and combinations of all of the above. As with the book, there is no complete song tablature of any song, but rather a more enlightening look at the attitude, brilliance, proper execution, correct guitar tuning, patterns and techniques Dimebag used to come up with his heavy metal magic.
And though the DVD says it has 97 "riffs," it's really not 97 separate riffs, but rather a close-up look at close to 30 Dimebag-penned songs, most of which are Pantera cuts (from 1990-2000), a few of which are (super heavy) Damageplan songs from its only album, New Found Power (2004), and one ("Get Outta My Life") from his (not well-known) southern metal side project Rebel Meets Rebel. This is not to say you should be disappointed with the DVD's contents. Far from it.
Many of the songs represented here have so many killer riffs and patterns within them that such riffs are spread out over several, separate examples and demonstrations by Bowcott. So you will see all the tasty riffs/melodic progressions in essential Pantera songs like "5 Minutes Alone," "Cemetary Gates," and "Mouth For War" demonstrated over multiple chapters on the DVD. All that, and showing the viewer key chords, scales, and some valuable warm-up excercises (which Dimebag said was vital for any guitarist to do before going full tilt into playing) is how the number jumps up to 97 and what makes the DVD such a rewarding release.
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