“Around Vulgar, he would get frustrated with me because I couldn’t keep up with what he was doing, guitar-wise – Dime was so far beyond me musically”: Pantera producer Terry Date on how he captured Dimebag Darrell’s lightning in a bottle in the studio

[Left] Acclaimed producer Terry Date reclines on a blue couch as he speaks at an industry convention; [right] The late Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell, holds a note and feels it. He is wearing a white Garth Brooks T-shirt and plays his blue lightning finish Dean ML electric guitar.

World-renowned metal producer and engineer Terry Date hasn’t just amassed a profoundly impressive discography (Soundgarden, Deftones, Prong, White Zombie, Slipknot, Dream Theater, Limp Bizkit); he was also the man behind the desk for Pantera’s first four major-label albums – Cowboys from Hell (1990), Vulgar Display of Power (1992), Far Beyond Driven (1994) and The Great Southern Trendkill (2000).

He looks back at his fondest memories of working with Dimebag Darrell in the studio – and why sometimes he was just trying to keep up…