Texas Thrash Metal · Est. 1985

Rotting Corpse

Dallas–Arlington–Ft. Worth thrash metal, before the scene existed to name it.

1985Formed
2021Reunited
2025New Album
On Stage

Upcoming Shows

Full show history →
24OCT2026

The Mix

San Antonio, TX

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26OCT2026

Kinda Tropical

Austin, TX

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14NOV2026

Haltom Theater

Haltom City, TX · with Iron Jaw

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05DEC2026

Spam's Bar and Lounge

San Angelo, TX

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Fuel The Tour

The Merch Table

Everything in the store →

From a camcorder in Corpus Christi in 1989 to the Haltom Theater stage in 2026. Clips roll as you scroll past or hover over them; tiles with a play button open the full song.

Thrash in Pain or Die Insane cover art
Out Now

Thrash in Pain or Die Insane

16 remastered tracks pulling together all four original 1980s demos for the first time on one release. Pressed on red vinyl and streaming everywhere.

Also on Spotify · VIC Records 2025

Read

From the Archive Desk

Real Texas thrash history, researched and sourced — new pieces added regularly.

All articles →
Exodus on a wide arena stage in Paris, a bassist at left, a bald singer and a guitarist at right in stage smoke, a giant painted Statue of Liberty figure on the backdrop

Albums · 10 min read

Exodus and Bonded by Blood: The Album That Built Bay Area Thrash

Recorded in about two weeks north of San Francisco in 1984, held back by a nervous label until 1985, and still the record people mean when they say Bay Area thrash.

1910 black and white photo of the Cosmopolitan Saloon in Telluride, Colorado, with a roulette table, gamblers at left, a long bar and a lawman with a star badge

Albums · 10 min read

Cowboys From Hell: How an Arlington Bar Band Made a Thrash Record and Went Double Platinum

A birthday-party gig, a hurricane, a Fort Worth club, two months at Pantego Sound and roughly 300 nights on the road: the making of Pantera’s major-label debut.

Creased photocopied flyer for an End of Summer Slam Session: the power metal attack of Devastation, hardcore from Angkor Wat and, from Dallas, Rotting Corpse at the Stardust, Friday August 29th, $5.00, all ages

Texas Thrash · 10 min read

Devastation: Corpus Christi’s Texas Thrash Veterans

A Gulf Coast band that cut its own debut, signed to Combat, made one of the heaviest records of 1991 at Morrisound, and called off its European tour before it began.

Follow Along on Instagram

Show flyers, throwbacks, and the next date — posted straight from the band, first.

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From The Road

Four Decades On Stage

Full photo & video archive →
1985
Formation
Walt Trachsler, John Perez, and Jim Mulqueen form the band in Arlington, Texas.
1989
Demo Era
Four landmark demos recorded, traded on cassettes across the underground.
2025
New Album
Thrash in Pain or Die Insane remastered anthology pressed on red vinyl and streaming worldwide.
In The Press

As Featured In

Full press coverage →
Newly Opened

The Archive

129 photos out of the band’s own boxes — hand-drawn gig flyers from 1985 onward, live shots nobody has seen in forty years, and four songs off a 1986 club tape.

Browse the gallery →
Flyer for the first Rotting Corpse show at Rascals, Arlington, December 6th
The flyer for the first show — Rascals, Arlington, December 6th, 1985.
Rotting Corpse lineup, mid-1980s
The five-piece, mid-1980s.
Rotting Corpse live onstage, mid-1980s
Onstage, mid-1980s.
Outside the Rotting Corpse practice space, Arlington 1987
Outside the Arlington practice space, 1987.