Few heavy metal acts survived the turmoil of the early 1990s music scene. Pantera, featuring the peerless guitar playing of the late "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, was different. Instead of humoring the market, the band demanded that the audience come to them by releasing a series of fiercely uncompromising platinum albums, including Vulgar Display of Power and Far Beyond Driven--albums that sold millions of copies despite minimal airplay.

This is the previously untold story behind one of the most influential bands in heavy metal history, written by the man best qualified to tell...