Angkor Wat (band)

Lore & Background

Angkor Wat was formed in 1986 by Adam Grossman, Danny Lohner, Dave Brinkman and Mike Trevino. Dave Nuss and Mike Titsworth joined the band in 1986 and 1987, respectively, following Trevino's departure. The band's energetic live performances along with their unique blend of thrash metal and hardcore punk landed a deal with Death Records, a subsidiary of Metal Blade Records, under which they released two albums. A third album was recorded under the name Angkor Wat, but due to the stylistic difference from the band's previous work Lohner opted to release it as Skrew's debut.

On June 1, 2018, the band played a reunion show at the House of Rock in Corpus Christi. The following day, they were honored with a star on the South Texas Music Walk of Fame in the Water Street Market. In late 2018 the band embarked upon a mini-tour in Texas with The Accused AD and remains active according to their website.

Reader's Guide

Angkor Wat holds significance as a forerunner of the hardcore punk scene in Corpus Christi, Texas, during the mid-eighties. Their fusion of thrash metal and hardcore punk, captured on two albums for Metal Blade Records, helped define the crossover sound of the era. Though the band's active period was brief, their influence extended through members' later work: Adam Grossman and Danny Lohner relocated to Austin and formed Skrew, an industrial music project, and Lohner went on to collaborate with major acts such as Nine Inch Nails, Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson, and A Perfect Circle. The band's legacy was recognized in 2018 with a star on the South Texas Music Walk of Fame, and their continued activity suggests enduring local and cult interest.

Did You Know?

• Angkor Wat was named after the Hindu-then-Buddhist temple complex.
• The band's third album was released as Skrew's debut due to stylistic differences.

Origins in Corpus Christi

Angkor Wat emerged from the small Texas port city of Corpus Christi in 1986, when Adam Grossman, Danny Lohner, Dave Brinkman, and Mike Trevino came together to forge a sound that married the aggression of thrash metal with the raw intensity of hardcore punk. The group took their name from the ancient Hindu-then-Buddhist temple complex in Cambodia, a striking choice for a band rooted in Gulf Coast American underground music. Within the first year, the lineup shifted: Dave Nuss stepped in during 1986, and Mike Titsworth followed in 1987 after Trevino departed. What made these early years significant was not just the music itself but the scene it helped catalyze. Angkor Wat are widely regarded as forerunners of the hardcore punk movement that would take hold in Corpus Christi throughout the mid-eighties, planting seeds that later local acts would build upon. Their energetic, high-octane live shows became a calling card, drawing audiences who craved a crossover sound that refused to sit neatly in one genre box.

Studio Work and the Metal Blade Connection

The band's reputation for ferocious stage presence and their distinctive fusion of thrash metal with hardcore punk caught the ear of Death Records, a subsidiary label of Metal Blade Records. Under that deal, Angkor Wat delivered two studio albums: When Obscenity Becomes the Norm...Awake! in 1989 and Corpus Christi in 1990, both issued through Metal Blade. These records captured the band at its most aggressive, channeling the energy of their live sets into recorded form. A third album was indeed recorded under the Angkor Wat name, but the material diverged noticeably from the group's earlier output. Recognizing the stylistic shift, Danny Lohner made the decision to release that record as the debut of a new project called Skrew, effectively drawing a line between the thrash-crossover identity of Angkor Wat and a newer, more experimental direction. In 1995, Metal Blade compiled both studio albums into a single release, ensuring the band's core catalog remained accessible to collectors and new listeners alike.

Reunion and Local Recognition

After years of relative quiet, Angkor Wat returned to the stage on June 1, 2018, performing a reunion concert at the House of Rock in their hometown of Corpus Christi. The event marked a full-circle moment for a band that had first electrified local audiences in the mid-eighties. The very next day, the group received a formal tribute when they were inducted with a star on the South Texas Music Walk of Fame, located in the Water Street Market district. This recognition underscored the band's lasting significance to the region's musical heritage, cementing their status as pioneers of the area's hardcore punk tradition. The reunion momentum carried well into late 2018, when the band embarked on a mini-tour across Texas alongside The Accused AD, a fellow act from the hardcore circuit. According to their own website, the group remains active, suggesting that the 2018 shows were not merely a nostalgic one-off but the beginning of an ongoing chapter. For fans who had followed the band's trajectory from its 1986 inception through its Metal Blade years, the return to live performance offered a rare and welcome reunion with a sound that had defined a corner of Texas underground music.

The Skrew Chapter and Lohner's Wider Career

When Angkor Wat's thrash-crossover era drew to a close, the story did not simply end. In 1990, Adam Grossman and Danny Lohner relocated from Corpus Christi to Austin, Texas, where they continued their musical partnership under the name Skrew. This new project leaned toward industrial music, marking a deliberate departure from the band's earlier aggressive metal and punk fusion. The third album that had been recorded under the Angkor Wat banner ultimately became Skrew's debut, a testament to how far the duo's creative direction had shifted. Lohner's career trajectory from that point on would place him in the orbit of some of the most prominent names in alternative and industrial music. He went on to collaborate with Nine Inch Nails, Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson, and A Perfect Circle, building a reputation as a versatile producer and musician well beyond the Texas hardcore scene. For those who first encountered his work through the raw energy of Angkor Wat in the late eighties, these later associations represent a remarkable evolution from Gulf Coast thrash pioneers to a figure embedded in the broader industrial and alternative landscape.