(Da Capo) www.perseusbooks.com

(Jawbone) www.jawbonepress.com

BY RANDY HARWARD

Metallica's Cliff Burton and Pantera's Dimebag Darrell Abbott are saints among dead and gone metalheads. Not just for their status in two of metal's biggest bands, or solely for their instrumental prowess; they were, by all accounts, well-liked, humble and fun.

More than another book about a dead rocker, Black Tooth Grin: The High Life, Good Times, and Tragic End of "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott is a vivid portrait of Dimebag, written in a style that suits his rep as a big-hearted hellraiser that treated everyone like family. Author Zac Crain employs elements of fiction to bring Dime (back) to life, and even builds suspense toward the tragic ending we all know is coming. (That Crain leads with the story of the guitar god's last moments is further testament to his writing.) The upshot is we get to know and like Dimebag all over again, intimately as a close friend.

Joel McIver takes a more straightforward, journalistic direction in To Live Is To Die: The Life and Death of Metallica's Cliff Burton, putting much emphasis on the importance of Burton's bass skills to Metallica's music. While the bass accents are insider-y, with detailed passages about Burton's tracks that only musicians would appreciate, McIver makes a strong case that it was Burton's knowledge of composition and theory, and appreciation of minimalist punk rock (a la the Misfits), that gave Metallica the extra dimension that James Hetfield's precision riffing, Kirk Hammett's solos and Ulrich's average drumming and biz smarts couldn't. As well, McIver points out that Burton was the soul and brain of the band, its hilarious stoner guru, consulted on every decision because of his reliably measured view of any situation. Ultimately, commercial success notwithstanding, without Burton Metallica is a shadow of what they were, and a fraction of what they could've been.