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Pantera was a band filled with larger than life personalities. Phil Anselmo was the enigmatic frontman, and brothers Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell were loud and boisterous, the life of the party. Bassist Rex Brown has an interesting personality of his own, but because of the nature of the band and his own reticence to do a lot of interviews, was sometimes overshadowed. Brown tells his story in a new autobiography.

Official Truth, 101 Proof: The Inside Story Of Pantera is Brown’s tale of the rise and fall of one of the most popular and compelling metal bands in music history. Brown talks about his difficult childhood, which included the death of his father at a young age, and a mother who struggled to cope. He left school behind and embraced music and the whole rock and roll lifestyle.

Brown pulls no punches in the book. He has a lot of negative things to say about Jerry Abbott, Dimebag and Vinnie’s dad, who produced the band’s early albums. Vinnie Paul is also the target of criticism and blame for some of the things that led to Pantera’s demise. Brown and Dimebag had their issues as well, but there was more mutual respect.

Brown had a better relationship with Anselmo, and they were in th band Down together. He has empathy for Anselmo’s struggles with drugs, even though they caused countless frustration and were another major reason Pantera imploded. Brown himself struggled with alcohol.

The behind the scenes story of Pantera is fascinating.

In addition to Brown’s own recollections, there are sidebar quotes from those close to the band including original singer Terry Glaze, manager Walter O’Brien, Rita Haney (Dimebag’s girlfriend) and many others. Brown’s telling of Dimebag’s murder, the funeral and aftermath is simply heartbreaking.

Brown seems to have a lot of self-awareness. Time has provided some perspective, and although he has a lot of negative things to say, he also exposes his own shortcomings, bad decisions and screw-ups. The roller coaster of being in one of the world’s biggest bands, having it all come crashing down, and then facing the tragic death of a friend and bandmate is a lot to deal with.

There have been a lot of books written about Pantera, but Brown provides insight an outside author simply can’t. These are his experiences, as seen through his eyes. It’s a very well-written and compelling book that I recommend highly.

(released March 2013 by Da Capo Press)

Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.