In the late ’80s and early ’90s, the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) area metal scene was thriving with bands such as underground legends RIGOR MORTIS and one of the most well-known progenitors of American groove metal, PANTERA. However, the current DFW scene is making waves on a different level by producing local bands who possess an infectious, radio-friendly quality with a metallic edge. SEROSIA is one of the leading DFW bands who are bridging the gap between metal and melodic rock by combining huge choruses, multi-layered vocal harmonies and catchy guitar hooks with an aggressive edge. Serosia, which consists of vocalist Lucas D’Agata, guitarist Derek Troxell, bassist Joseph Kuban and D’Agata’s brother Anthony, have been plugging away in the Dallas area club scene since 2007.

“The local scene is a family and it’s a pretty tight-knit community,” Lucas D'Agata said. “There’s a lot of good bands. Most of the shows are booked with bands that interlace really well and you have a lot of different genres that are feeding off other bands that they wouldn’t normally get to play with. I would say it’s a great melting pot of music right now in Dallas.”

Serosia’s fourth independently-released EP, Variables, the band feels they have delivered a true representation of itself and hopes it appeals to a broad spectrum of fans.

“It’s very difficult to cater to metal, rock, alternative — the whole thing,” D'Agata said. “Because you’re always going to run into some sort of head-butting. The metal guys are always pretty hard on you if you have a lot of melody and clean singing. We tried our best to marry the two so that everyone can be just as stoked with the songs as we are. We all feel like we accomplished that goal with Variables.”

Variables was produced by ILL NINO vocalist Cristian Machado (who is also Serosia’s manager) in his New Jersey studio. Everyone involved in the recording was already familiar with the five songs on the EP due to a well-planned pre-production period.

“It (Variables) differs from the other records in that we had a whole lot of time to do pre-production. When we went into record with Christian, he had already been working on these songs for us for about six to eight months. So when we went into the studio as opposed to the previous EPs, everyone in the studio that worked there knew the song. The creative juices flowed a lot easier as all the parts were already there.”

Having someone in the studio who is as accomplished as Machado is must have been a great learning experience for the band. Machado was on hand to offer plenty of invaluable advice.

“I would say if there was one piece of advice that I could determine to be the best piece of advice he’s given us would be to be yourself and be real. No matter what the pressures of the business are, never succumb to that. If it’s not something that’s part of your creative dream; if it gets in the way and it’s not something that your heart feels is right, then don’t do it. Coming from someone that is a part of the national and international music scene, it’s pretty cool hearing that from him.”

Serosia has plenty of spunk and spirit with fresh faces who are ready to live the rock ’n’ roll dream and are thriving for their chance in the sun.

“We’re shooting for the stars with Variables. We’re really trying to go as far with it as we can. The plan is to take Serosia to the highest level of success and to meet as many new fans that we basically consider our family once they’ve “gotten” our music. We want people to understand our music and vibe with us. We just want to play all the time.”

Here’s just a few current DFW bands worth checking out as well: ADAKAIN, FADED GRACE, HIGHPOINT and DESIGNING THE ENEMY.