{"id":629528,"date":"2026-09-19T11:50:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T11:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/629528\/"},"modified":"2026-09-19T11:50:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T11:50:13","slug":"the-lead-tones-that-dimebag-had-on-that-album-were-beautiful-and-so-individual-no-one-else-sounded-like-that-bullet-for-my-valentine-on-the-tonal-perfection-of-dimebag-darrell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/629528\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThe lead tones that Dimebag had on that album were beautiful and so individual. No-one else sounded like that\u201d: Bullet For My Valentine on the tonal perfection of Dimebag Darrell"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of Britain\u2019s premiere heavy metal outfits, Bullet For My Valentine have more than earned their place in the halls of the 21st century pantheon of rock gods. Touring with Metallica<\/a>, Iron Maiden and Slayer, BFMV merged classic rock archetypes with a more modern melodic sensibility, paving the way for a new generation of acts.<\/p>\n

We spoke to the band\u2019s chief vocalist Matt Tuck and lead guitarist Michael \u2018Padge\u2019 Paget back in 2018, on the heels of their sixth LP Gravity<\/a>. We dug deep into the genesis of their coruscating sound, and how they shifted their stylistic approach to make this more radio-leaning record.<\/p>\n

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\u201c[Gravity<\/a>] is a lot more simple and foundation-based, rather than the crazy riffs and solos and technical stuff, which we\u2019ve done to death,\u201d Matt told us. \u201cIt ended up being an enjoyable process tracking the guitars, rather than a stressful one.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing a guitar nerd you really want to get into nuances and put your own identity into it all. But that brings stresses, so this time round a lot of it was more straightforward chords and riffs and clean patterns. It was much more relaxed way of recording guitars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tuck also explained how the band didn\u2019t overdo the layering of the guitars for the album;<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s one on the left and one on the right, that\u2019s it! We didn\u2019t double-track anything. I think [third album] Fever<\/a> was the last time we quadded the guitars up, with two on two one side and then the same on the other.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn [2013 album] Temper Temper <\/a>we decided to put less in, which in a weird way \u2013 depending on the song \u2013 makes it actually sound bigger. Plus the process is twice as quick; it\u2019s only half the work!\u201d<\/p>\n

Want all the hottest music and gear news, reviews, deals, features and more, direct to your inbox? Sign up here. <\/p>\n

\n

\"BFMV\"\n<\/p>\n

Matt Tuck (Image credit: David A. Smith\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

As the two last remaining original members of the band, Tuck and Paget reflected on their enduring chemistry\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cIt probably comes from the time we\u2019ve spent together. I\u2019m a keen watcher! All the years we\u2019ve been together means we know each other well,\u201d said Padge. \u201cWe filmed a playthrough video in New York the other day, just the two of us<\/a> without the band, and it blew me away when I heard how f**kin\u2019 tight we were. Without nothing else going on around, we were both just hearing guitars \u2013 it\u2019s quite magical whenever it sinks in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt added, \u201cIt\u2019s the time and effort we\u2019ve put into this career and this band. We kinda have the same job technically \u2013 that only adds to the yin and yang thing. We\u2019ve both progressed massively over the years; we both want what\u2019s best for the song rather than the individual.\u201d<\/p>\n

What to read next<\/p>\n

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\"BFMV\"\n<\/p>\n

Padge and Matt; \u201cIt blew me away when I heard how f**kin\u2019 tight we were\u201d (Image credit: Steve Thorne\/Redferns\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

One of our final questions to the pair related to the guitar tones they personally felt were the most iconic of all time. For Matt, there was only one answer: the tone of the late Pantera legend Dimebag Darrell on one of metal gods’ most celebrated records.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most iconic guitar tone of all-time for me is on Pantera\u2019s Vulgar Display Of Power<\/a>. It\u2019s just crushing\u2026 though not a regular sounding tone, it\u2019s very honky and scooped. The lead tones that Dimebag had on that album were beautiful and so individual. No-one else sounded like that, which made him very rare.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Dimebag\n<\/p>\n

The late, great Dimebag Darrell; \u201cYou could give someone else his guitar through his amp and it would sound like dogs**t\u201d (Image credit: Martyn Goodacre\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cPlayers don\u2019t usually have that much identity. You could give someone else his guitar through his amp and it would sound like dogs**t \u2013 a lot of it was in the hands. That\u2019s the holy grail of guitar playing\u2026 identity over anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read our full 2018 interview with Bullet For My Valentine here. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of Britain\u2019s premiere heavy metal outfits, Bullet For My Valentine have more than earned their place in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":629529,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[93,61,60,278],"class_list":["post-629528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/629529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}