Since its inception in the late 1960s, heavy metal has experienced quite a few ups and downs in popularity. But there was one specific decade that sticks out as the most troubling - the 1990s. In what seemed like one fell swoop, a style of metal that had been popular for much of the 1980s was rendered obsolete, and in its place, was a much more real, raw, and unique approach - detected in several new metal-based "sub-genres". Add to it several changes in the music industry and media, and it appeared as if traditional metal may have met its expiration date...before several bands (and a certain traveling festival tour) helped put headbanging rock back on track.

Survival of the Fittest: Heavy Metal in the 1990's is the first book to focus entirely on this decade. Set in an oral history format, Survival features over 80 interviews conducted exclusively for this book, including current or past members of Pantera, Sepultura, Fear Factory, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Kiss, Def Leppard, Guns N' Roses, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, Exodus, Testament, Dream Theater, King's X, Extreme, Winger, Cinderella, Living Colour, Faith No More, Primus, Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails, White Zombie, Stone Temple Pilots, Kyuss, Danzig, Clutch, Life of Agony, Biohazard, Type O Negative, Within Temptation, Cradle of Filth, Death, Coal Chamber, and System of a Down (among many others), as well as Eddie Trunk, Riki Rachtman, and Lonn Friend. Also featured is a foreword by Pantera bassist Rex Brown.