The metal musician who desecrated the gravesite of Dimebag Darrell has been identified — and has quickly apologized for his actions.
Reece Eber, a 22-year-old drummer from Fort Wayne, Indiana, who has been described as the former vocalist of thrash metal band Nuclear Hellfrost, released a statement via Facebook that owns up to his actions but stresses he didn’t carve anything into Dimebag’s memorial stone and nothing was stolen from the Texas site.
There’s still a bit of uncertainty of Eber’s relationship to Nuclear Hellfrost, but his MeetMe profile shows him wearing the band’s shirt and his statement was posted on the Nuclear Hellfrost Facebook page. Read it below.
Meanwhile, Nuclear Hellfrost have been receiving a shitstorm of negative publicity and death threats, and have been booted from banned from next month’s Berserker fest in Detroit. A “Ban Nuclear Hellfrost” page on Facebook has generated more than 6,000 likes in less than 24 hours.
Surely, this saga is yet to be over, but Eber’s apology is a good start.
Official statement from Reece below. If you have problems with anything he says, direct them to the appropriate person and not to us or the other members that weren’t involved.
“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…”
The former guitarist of Pantera, Dimebag Darrell was shot and killed on stage in Columbus, Ohio, in 2004 while performing with his band Damageplan.
Here’s a recent release from Nuclear Hellfrost…