Dec. 1-4, 2005
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Extreme Texas Metal
Organization struggles to support loudest, bloodiest, heaviest in Texas’ metal scene
By Austin Powell
Daily Texan Staff
With several shots to the chest fired point-blank from a nine millimeter, extreme Texas metal’s most iconic was killed along with several others nearly a year ago in Columbus, Ohio.
“Dimebag” Darrell Abbott was the guitarist and driving force behind the most influential and successful metal band to ever come out of Texas: Pantera. His grave in Dallas is marked by a large black marble tombstone engraved with a depiction of a soaring eagle and a lone word “Abbott.”
Along with flowers, 40 oz. beer bottles and an American flag, a young trio of metal musicians known collectively as Disfigured are shown in their band photo standing behind the grave, paying respects to their fallen hero.
The picture is much more than a simple homage; the sights, sounds and spirit of extreme Texas metal, like its leader, are thriving in the underground.
Extreme Texas Metal does not refer to sound specific to an area, but to an organization formed to unite those within the metal community and make a name for Texas as a stronghold of metal music.
It began roughly five years ago with the passion of a married couple from the Valley, Marcelino and Anna Sanchez, and their small but effective Geocites Web site. Marcelino, who plays drums for a local band that blends together the chaos of Morbid Angel, Slayer and Dark Angel called Masochism, knows first-hand how difficult it can be for an ultra-heavy band to land a gig in Austin.
“Opportunities and shows, especially when we first began, were few and far between for a black metal band,” Sanchez said. “There was a lot of, I guess you could say, back-stabbing between the various bands too. There would be certain bands that didn’t want you on the bill, so a lot of bands end up having to leave Austin just to play.”
Just a few years ago, the metal scene in Austin was bleak at best. Donn Donni, whose melodic death metal band Vesperian Sorrow, one of the most well-known and well-respected names in the current Austin scene, described his band’s struggles during their beginnings:
“What we do, and all of this other more obscure metal stuff, wasn’t accepted at all in Austin when we first began. People didn’t want to hear it. Over time it’s just gradually become more accepted.”
While Donni is quick to recognize the effect that national touring bands like Mayhem have had on Austin by introducing various styles of metal that aren’t coming through mainstream radio, that doesn’t change the fact that Riverside’s The Backroom remains the only recognized venue for local metal music. The task of actually getting onto a stage remains staggeringly difficult.
Extreme Texas Metal’s ability to land shows and promote bands comes from its strength in numbers. Through their home page and account on myspace.com, which average almost 500 hits a day, Extreme Texas Metal has worked with and connected over 100 bands from the Austin, Dallas and the Arlington areas. As long as it is fast and hardcore, the organization has no problem laying its own reputation on the line for the sake of metal, even with little to no financial reward.
Despite the enormous amount of effort spent planning and executing shows, selling merchandise, and maintaining and updating their Web site, Extreme Texas Metal is barely scrapping by. Its goal is to just make enough to pay for the Web site itself.
“The bands we get on stage have really earned that opportunity,” Sanchez said. “You can tell these bands have put in the time and effort because so many of them have a very technical and challenging aspect to their music. It shows in the sound that comes out of the amplifiers, and they deserve the opportunity to share that.”
Metal music and more specifically death and black metal will never reach a level of general acceptance or mass popularity. The sheer masculine intensity of the music, not to mention the often vile and disturbing imagery associated with it, lacks the drawing power or the substance to ever become mainstream or popular.
Take for example Exulcerate, who will be playing this Saturday at The Backroom with Vesperian Sorrow and a slew of other metal acts as part of an Extreme Texas Metal show. Their focus on bloodshed and theatrics that combines Cannibal Corspse and Deicide appeals only to the decomposing and demoralizing aesthetic of death metal.
“This is underground,” Marcelion said. “I don’t know if any of the bands Extreme Texas Metal works with will ever make it on a national level. I personally don’t know how to get in contact with music executives or have the right person show up.”
“It’s not about that,” Donni adds. “It’s just about creating something from nothing and then sharing what could have just as easily never been.”
-Photos courtesy of the artists. Both bands will perform at the Extreme Texas Metal showcase this Saturday at the Backroom. Also playing are Vesperian Sorrow, Exulcerate, Disfigured and Forever Mourn.
Around the world:
Regional sounds in heavy metal
Norwegian black metal
A legitimately evil form of metal born in the early 1980s responsible for several church burnings and the general chaos that plagued the area during that time. It gained an onslaught of media attention in the early 1990s after the suicide of Mayhem front man Dead (his parting words were “Excuse all of the blood”) and the brutal murder of Mayhem guitarist Øystein Aarseth at the hands of his own bass player Varg Vikernos.
Scandinavian death metal
Norwegian black metal’s bitter rival. Scandanavian death metal distinguished itself through the combination of black and thrash metal paired with keyboards and synthesizers. Known early on through the music of Nihilist and Carnage, a second generation led by bands like In Flames, Arch Enemy and At The Gates yielded higher commercial success later on.
British heavy metal
In the early 1980s British heavy metal came to be known for its speed and intricate twin guitar harmonies thanks to Iron Maiden and Def Leppard.
Bay Area thrash metal
The San Francisco Bay Area is largely credited as the starting grounds for the pummeling metal sound that opposed hair metal in America in the 1980s. Bands like Metallica, Slayer, Testament and Megadeath all came from this scene and continue to perform to this day.
Masscore
Known on a larger scale as the new wave of American Heavy Metal or “Metalcore,” this particular term comes from the sound of Massachusetts bands such as Shadows Fall, Killswitch Engage and Unearth, who combine the guitar work of British heavy metal with the breakdowns and style of hardcore.