GHENGAR is determined to give his best, darkest and loudest show in Dallas

When David Crow was a kid, his family found his metal CDs and destroyed them. Arlington’s own Pantera, Slipknot, Megadeth and the whole collection were broken and thrown into the trash. The intended lesson was obvious: this music was bad, dangerous and something to be feared. But when Crow saw the cracked discs, he did not feel ashamed. He felt revelation.

“Their desired effect was that I would realize it was bad,” Crow tells the Observer. “But all I saw was, ‘Wow, this really affects people.’”

Years later, that reaction still powers him. Crow is known to metal fanatics as GHENGAR, the darker, masked, and more aggressive alter ego of his other musical project, Ghastly. Crow has built a world where horror, metal, bass music, gaming culture and catharsis collide. It is loud, theatrical and abrasive by design, but behind the fangs and distorted drops is a surprisingly sincere philosophy: people need somewhere to put their darkness.

On Friday, July 17, GHENGAR brings that philosophy to SILO Dallas for a special show with Riot Ten and Prosecute. For Crow, the venue is more than another tour stop. It’s a place to make a statement and a chance to pull fans deeper into GHENGAR’s next chapter through heavy energy, unreleased music and controlled chaos.

“Dallas is where SILO is, and SILO is the venue where you make a statement about who you are and what you’re doing and what you’re capable of,” he says. “I plan to bring my absolute best show I have ever done in my entire life.”

Crow’s relationship with heavy music goes back long before electronic music entered the picture. As a teenager, he started his first metal band, The Irish Front, which gained traction on MySpace and toured nationally. That early foundation eventually became central to GHENGAR’s evolution.

Becoming GHENGAR

At first, Crow says, the project had pieces of the identity but not the full commitment. The logo was brutal and the music was getting heavier. But the mask did not match the energy.

“It wasn’t horrifying. It wasn’t metal,” he says. “It was pandering, if I’m being totally honest.”

Eventually, he decided to fully lean into what GHENGAR already seemed to be promising. He took creative control of the mask, began designing and modifying it himself, and started building something closer to the monster he had been drawing since childhood: a horned, toothy creature that once made his parents wonder if they were raising “a fucking serial killer.”

“I just like scary shit, man,” he says.

The mask has since become one of GHENGAR’s defining symbols, but Crow says the current design is not just about aesthetics. Older versions covered his full face, trapped heat and made performing more difficult. The newer version exposes enough of his face to let him scream, react and connect with the crowd without breaking the illusion.

“Having sharp teeth come down my face while you can still see my face, that works because I’m always reacting throughout the show,” he says. “I’m always screaming.”

Musically, Crow sees bass music and metal as similar worlds. He remembers hearing his first dubstep drop and immediately recognizing the feeling of a death metal breakdown: the space, the rhythm, the impact and the bodily response.

“When I heard my first dubstep drop ever, I immediately thought, ‘Oh, this is like death metal,’” Crow says. “It’s the same idea, just different tools.”

Doing it differently in Dallas

The philosophy of unbridled freedom pairs well with a unique meet-and-greet event at the Mayhem Rage Arena. It’s a pre-show release, a way for people to physically expel their stress. For Mayhem founder Jimmy Swan, the partnership felt natural. Before opening Mayhem, Swan spent 24 years in the music industry, and he wanted the business to carry the same energy he experienced in clubs and venues throughout his career.

“Partnering with GHENGAR felt like a natural fit because electronic music delivers that same high-energy release that Mayhem is all about,” Swan says. “The intensity he brings to his fans is basically the perfect soundtrack for a rage room.”

The collaboration offers fans more than a standard meet-and-greet. It lets them step into the emotional world GHENGAR’s music is built around: intensity, release and shared chaos.

“Who would not want the chance to hang out and rage with one of their favorite artists,” Swan says. “It creates a fan experience that goes far beyond a traditional meet and greet.”

Beneath the snarling mask is a worldview built around confronting the parts of ourselves we usually hide. Crow cites Carl Jung’s concept of the shadow as central to GHENGAR: the idea that everyone carries darkness, and denying it only gives it more power.

“That’s exactly what this whole project is about: embracing and meeting your shadow,” he says. “Not hiding from it. Not denying its existence.”

It is a surprisingly thoughtful foundation for a show designed to make a room erupt. Crow wants fans to jump, scream, sweat and lose themselves, but he also wants them to look out for one another.

“I would prefer to see the entire room as one big pool of headbanging and jumping,” he says. “But always with a sense of community and responsibility for yourself and each other. That’s how we fucking have fun.”

For the July 17 show, Crow says he won’t be recycling a usual set. Between the show itself and the surrounding fan activation, the night is set to offer a glimpse at a larger creative world still unfolding. One packed with new sounds, darker visuals and unreleased material.

“I want it to be a statement of where this project is going,” he says.

Dallas, he says, has earned that kind of moment. He has played the city many times as both Ghastly and GHENGAR, building memories through sold-out shows and after parties.

“I’ve put so much love into that community because that community has put so much love toward me,” he says. “I intend on showing that love back, like I always have.”

For Crow, chaos is not the absence of control; it’s the release valve. The monster is not something to fear but rather something to meet, understand and maybe even wear on your face.

And in Dallas, GHENGAR is ready to let it loose.

GHENGAR will play SILO (1340 Manufacturing St.) on July 17. Tickets are $30.