Few heavy metal acts survived the turmoil of the early 1990s music scene. The rise of grunge and alternative rock meant that many of them broke up – or were forced underground. Some even tried to adopt the prevailing fashions of the day, with disastrous results. Pantera were different. Instead of humouring the market, they instead demanded that the audience come to them by releasing a series of fiercely uncompromising – and platinum-selling albums, such as Vulgar Display of Power and Far Beyond Driven, two #1 albums that sold millions of copies with little-to-no airplay on radio or MTV.

Rex Brown’s memoir is the definitive account of life inside one of rock’s biggest bands, a band who succeeded against all the odds – but whose career would ultimately end in tragedy when their iconic lead guitarist, Darrell "Dimebag" Abbott, was murdered on stage by a deranged fan. This is the first and only lucid account of the events surrounding one of the most influential bands in heavy metal history and Rex Brown is the surviving member best qualified to put those incredible years of fame and excess into context.