Former Pantera Bassist Rex Brown Appears at Bookends This Thursday

Former Pantera bassist Rex Brown eschewed the media spotlight during his time with one of the most successful and combustible heavy metal bands of the 1990s. When his fellow band members fought, in private and by lobbing venomous barbs in the press, Brown served as the mediator and stayed above the fray.

That’s part of the reason why Brown’s new biography is such a compelling read. In “Official Truth: The Inside Story of Pantera” (Da Capo Press), Brown chronicles the Texas heavyweights’ colorful rise and fall, and tragic aftermath, with an insider’s perspective while maintaining an outsider’s objectivity.

“Official Truth” hits store shelves on Tuesday, March 12. Brown will be at Bookends on Thursday, March 14, at 6 p.m. to sign copies.

“I was doing an interview for another book with a friend and one conversation led to another and I decided it was time to tell my story,” Brown said by phone. “Like every band, Pantera had its peaks and valleys. Just like life. Writing the book was cathartic to say the least.”

Brown, 48, had a lot to get off his chest. Pantera was a hugely influential metal band that floored audiences for nearly two decades with a barrage of groove-laden rhythms, razor-sharp, monster guitar riffs, and lyrical jabs that grabbed listeners by the throat and demanded attention and respect. Along the way the band sold more than 20 million albums.

But Pantera’s achievements were marred by bitter infighting and are forever linked with the 2004 onstage murder of guitar phenom Dimebag Darrell Abbott. A deranged fan in Ohio shot Abbott while he was playing a club gig with his post-Pantera band, Damageplan.

“I miss him desperately,” Brown said of his former bandmate and best friend. “At the same time there’s nothing I can do about it. You remember all the good times and the things you did together.”

The Pantera story began when Brown, who grew up in a musical family, met drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott in ninth grade in Arlington, Texas, just outside of Dallas. He soon began playing in a band with Paul, his brother Darrell and singer Terry Glaze.

“I met Dime when he couldn’t play a chord,” Brown said. “To go from that to who he was, and who he was as a person, was amazing. His energy was incredible and he kicked [butt] onstage every night.”

The band released its first album, “Metal Magic,” on its own record label in 1983, when Brown was just 18. Pantera’s early music and image, replete with puffed coifs and spandex, was likened to acts like Motley Crue.  Singer Phil Anselmo replaced Glaze on the band’s fourth record, “Power Metal.” Shortly afterward Pantera set about shedding its glam metal skin for a leaner, heavier sound and image.

Brown said the band benefited from working its way slowly to commercial success. He said Pantera developed a strong work ethic and honed its chops through constant touring.

“It took a while to get our foot in the door,” Brown said. “It was us going from Tijuana to Rhode Island to Miami to Seattle and overseas when no one knew who we were. It was constant perseverance in the early years.”

Pantera began garnering widespread attention after the 1990 release of its ferocious fifth album and major label debut, “Cowboys from Hell.” The band’s high-octane metal was unique for the Texas-sized groove that anchored the band.

Rather than simply overpower listeners with a straight-ahead assault, Pantera’s propulsive rhythms, and Brown’s bass lines in particular, were influenced by southern swing and introduced a new element to heavy metal known as the power groove.

“There was just this hole that I saw in metal that needed something a bit heavier,” Brown said. “Adding a groove aspect just made sense to me.”

Pantera continued its ascent with its 1992 album, “Vulgar Display of Power,” which featured “Walk,” a punchy anthem that became one of the band’s staples.

“The goal was always to write the best, heaviest songs we could,” Brown said. That vision did not change in the mid-1990s, when grunge had knocked metal from the mainstream and the genre’s most popular band, Metallica, had slowed its tempo and simplified its song structures to win mass appeal.

Pantera took its music to the opposite extreme, releasing its heaviest album yet, “Far Beyond Driven,” in 1994. The album, which included vicious yet hooky tracks like “I’m Broken” and “5 Minutes Alone,” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard albums chart.

Just as the band reached the top of the mountain, it began a downward slide. Anselmo got hooked on heroin while the rest of the Pantera drank and partied hard and left a trail of wrecked hotel rooms in its wake, wasting tens of thousands of dollars in the process.

“It’s one of those things where you’ve worked your butt off and now you’ve got your foot in the door and that’s really when the hard work starts,” Brown said. “When the money comes in it’s hard to get used to.”

Anselmo’s drug abuse led to a cancelled tour, and a rift developed between him and the Abbott brothers that eventually led to the band’s demise. Pantera released its final album, “Reinventing the Steel,” in 2000.

A near lifetime’s worth of drinking later exacted its toll on Brown, who, ironically, after going through rehab and quitting drinking, developed acute pancreatitis in 2009 and had his gall bladder removed.

Following Pantera’s demise, Brown played with Anselmo in the band Down before breaking ranks and forming Kill Devil Hill with veteran drummer Vinny Appice (Black Sabbath, Dio, Heaven & Hell). Kill Devil Hill released its self-titled debut in 2012 and is working on its sophomore release.

The band has been building its name by playing small clubs around the country, bringing Brown’s career path full circle.

“Its brought back a lot of hunger for playing music that I haven’t had in quite a few years,” Brown said. “Who could ask for something better than that. I have no regrets. I’ve had an amazing ride thus far.”

IF YOU GO: Rex Brown, signing copies of “Official Truth: The Inside Story of Pantera,” 6 p.m. Thursday, March 14, Bookends, 211 E. Ridgewood Ave., Ridgewood. Brown will sign only books purchased at Bookends. 201-445-0726 or www.book-ends.com.