The Dallas–Fort Worth Metal Scene in the 1980s: Three Rooms That Built It
Dallas went punk and new wave. Arlington and Fort Worth went metal, in a pasture, a bar, a tombstone factory and a garage a Lebanese landlord never wanted to be a metal club.
Gammacide: The Arlington Thrash Band Behind Victims of Science
One album on a tiny California label, a decade of silence, and a record that kept finding new listeners until the band had to come back for it.
Pantego Sound Studio: The Small Texas Room Where Pantera, Gammacide and Rotting Corpse Recorded
A country songwriter’s studio at the end of a dead-end street in a one-square-mile town made Cowboys From Hell, Vulgar Display of Power and half the thrash demos in Dallas–Fort Worth.
Pantera Before Cowboys From Hell: The Arlington Glam Years, 1981–1988
Four self-released albums, a father’s studio in Pantego, three sets a night in Texas bars, and a singer change that turned a Kiss-and-Van-Halen cover band into something heavier.
Rascals, Arlington: The First Metal Club in North Texas
A short-lived bar that changed everything. From its opening in May 1985 to its closure six months later, Rascals in south Arlington was the only place in North Texas where metal fans could go.
Rigor Mortis: The North Texas Thrash Band That Got to Capitol Records
Four kids from Arlington cut a ten-hour demo in Garland, handed out 500 cassettes at the Tombstone Factory, and became the first Texas thrash band with a major-label deal.
Texas Thrash Metal Bands: The Groups That Built the Scene, City by City
Arlington pastures, a Fort Worth club called the Tombstone Factory, an Austin band inventing technical thrash in 1985: the Texas story nobody has told in one place.
Warlock: The Arlington Band That Started North Texas Metal
Before Pantera went heavy and before Rigor Mortis signed to Capitol, a band from Arlington built the stage, opened the club and wrote the songs everyone else followed.
