US metallers PANTERA posted last night, Saturday 28th February, via their official Facebook page that guitarist Dimebag Darrell‘s grave was desecrated by a band, who posted about the fact on social media. Read PANTERA‘s statement below:

“We are absolutely disgusted by this! We ask that all of you please show Dime & his grave the respect he deserves. This conduct will not be tolerated and the authorities have been notified.”

Since then, the band NUCLEAR HELLFROST have posted a statement on their official Facebook page claiming it was nothing to do with them, but their ex-vocalist:

“The posts about us and to us are a complete surprise to us. Anything having to do with grave desecration was entirely a hoax put on by our former lead singer completely disconnected from the other members of the band. If you see Dimebag’s grave you can see there is nothing carved into his grave, the only thing that exists is a photo of a piece of paper posted by the former member. We are strongly against any sort of homophobia, racism, or outright disrespect for a human being. We have nothing but the utmost respect for Dimebag and this is a misguided political publicity stunt that we were dragged into by a former member with an awful sense of humor. Nuclear Hellfrost as a band would like to apologize on this former member’s behalf to not only Dimebag’s fans, but most importantly his family. Again, the members of Nuclear Hellfrost had absolutely ZERO actual involvement in any of the alleged actions described by our former singer. Again, nothing but respect to Dimebag as a human being and condolences to his family. These are fabricated and contrived allegations on the internet that never happened in real life.”

The band also posted a statement from ex-vocalist Reece Eber who admitted:

“This is Reece Eber, the guy who ignorantly acted like a fool and pulled the dumbest possible delinquent act of my life… And where to begin… I’ve become famous today in the worst possible way. My friends and I have received death threats and multiple insults over the past day or so, I’ve made the news, and all I can say to sum it all up is I’m deeply sorry. I acted ignorantly and completely out of line. There is NO reason for doing what I did, and when I say “I”, I mean ME alone. My friends were not present for the event and should have caught up with them when they were walking away, instead i left a piece of paper with an insult to a man many people idolize and for a cheap laugh that I didn’t think about the consequences. I did not carve into it and it was a piece of paper and nothing was stolen. I’m not asking for forgiveness, I’m not asking for sympathy, I am only attempting to express an apology that I want to reach out to the people I hurt and offended with this dumb act. There is no reason for what I did and it was the worst mistake I’ve made in my young and evidently dumb life. I don’t blame the threats and comments. I understand how you feel and that’s why I’m an asshole because I knowingly was out for blood, and so I don’t blame anyone for wanting to do god knows what to me. The fact of the matter is I feel awful and guilty and this will stick with me forever, just like the Seinfeld guy using the N word… I can not express how sorry I am to Vinnie Paul and the Abbott family for the distress I caused, and the other members of Pantera and other acts Darrell was a part of. I owe everyone an apology for my actions because they were uncalled for, and horrible, despicable, and I went way too far. Some jokes are NOT funny and this is one of them. I took a joke way too far with a piece of paper and some hurtful words and as I’ve expressed, I don’t expect any sort of acceptance or sympathy. I’m doing this out of the guilt I feel, knowing I caused this and I want to attempt to make it right even though I’m sure many will not accept this… I’m truly sorry for my actions and I’m sorry I put people I care about in potential danger and upsetting people for my selfish and morbid sense of humor. Anyways to wrap this up, I hope this was read, I hope at least someone will accept this and I hope for a better future for everyone…“

Dimebag formed PANTERA in 1981 with his brother Vinnie Paul and in 1990 the band had their first commercial success with the album “Cowboys From Hell.” The band went on to even bigger success with their distinctive sounding southern groove style metal offering “Vulgar Display Of Power” in 1992.

The brothers later went on to form DAMAGEPLAN after much tension within PANTERA. They released their debut album “New Found Power” in 2004 before Darrell was shot and killed while performing with the band onstage, along with three more people.

Dimebag left his mark and also a huge gap in the metal world, but the legacy of his music lives on. He was ranked 92 in Rolling Stone‘s “100 Greatest Guitarists” and number 1 in UK metal magazine Metal Hammer and frequently appeared in polls and guitar magazines, as well as writing his own column in Guitar World magazine. He endorsed Dean guitars and had co-designed his own signature guitar just months before his death called the Razorback.