aesthetics of hate

Aesthetics of Hate is a track from Machine Head's The Blackening Album written by vocalist and guitarist Rob Flynn. The song was written as a response to an article by William Grim for the web site Iconoclast, which praised Dimebag Darrell's murder by Nathan Gale while Darrell was performing with the band Damageplan on 8th December 2004. Titled "Aesthetics of Hate: R.I.P. Dimebag Abbott, & Good Riddance", Grim wrote the article stating Darrell was "part of a generation that has confused sputum with art and involuntary reflex actions with emotion", "an ignorant, barbaric, untalented possessor of a guitar" who looks "more simian than human".

Here is Machine Head's performance of Aesthetics of Hate, taken from the live stream during Download Festival 2007.

riders on the storm

December 8th. The day two rock musicians were murdered. John Lennon in 1980, "Dimebag" Darrell Abbot in 2004. Another further parallel finds the two murders committed by crazed fans. Both committed in America, New York and Ohio respectively.
So how many other musicians died at the hands of someone else was a question that begged answering. And although the following is no way a definitive list (there's bound to be someone missing) these are the most well known. More than expected you might think.

who - name of band (when applicable) - date of death - age - how died

John Lennon - Beatles - 1980-12-08 - 40 - shot
Dimebag Darrell - Damageplan - 2004-12-08 - 38 - shot
King Curtis - 71-08-13 - 37 - stabbed
Rhett Forrester - Riot - 94-01-22 - 37 - shot
Al Jackson - Booker T. and the MGs - 75-10-01 - 39 - shot
Don Myrick - Earth, Wind & Fire - 93-07-30 - 53 - shot
Felix Pappalardi - Mountain - 83-04-17 - 43 - shot
Bobby Ramirez - Edgar Winter's White Trash - 72-07-24 - 23 - beaten
Selena - 95-03-31 - 23 - shot
Tupac Shakur - 96-09-13 - 25 - shot
James Sheppard - Shep & the Limelights - 70-01-24 - 24 - beaten
Peter Tosh - 87-09-11 - 42 - shot
Mia Zapata - Gits - 93-07-07 - strangled
Carlton Barrett - Wailers - 87-04-17 - 37 - shot
Sam Cooke - 64-12-11 - 33 - shot

December 8th is also the birth date of Jim Morrison of The Doors. Who although not coming to an end at the hands of someone else, died somewhat tragically in Paris, July 3rd 1971 aged 27.
Part of the lyrics for his song "Riders On The Storm" providing a rather chilling synchronicity to end December 8th.

There's a killer on the road
His brain is squirmin' like a toad
Take a long holiday
Let your children play
If ya give this man a ride
Sweet family will die
Killer on the road, yeah

here is Riders On The Storm

dimebag darrell

20 August 2011 would be the 45th birthday of Darrell Lance Abbott, better known as Dimebag Darrell, guitarist and founding member of Pantera and Damageplan. Pantera is widely known as one of the greatest heavy metal bands of all time, with Dimebag Darrell also dubbed as one of the greatest metal guitarists.

On December 8, 2004, Dimebag Darrell was shot onstage while performing with Damageplan. This video shows Dimebag Darrell playing with Pantera at the 1991 Monsters of Rock Festival in Moscow, which was attended by an estimated 1.6 million people who had come to see bands including Pantera, Metallica and AC/DC...