In 1983 Dale and Troy Thompson started a band named Matrix in Louisville, Kentucky. Matrix recorded four self-financed demos, which were distributed at live shows and through the mail via Contemporary Christian Music Magazine (CCM) and various fanzines of the day. Their ministry continued to grow in the Christian rock underground but it was not until 1986 that they managed to break into the mainstream. Opening for Daniel Band in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, Matrix caught the eye of the representatives of Refuge Records who were forming their subsidiary label Pure Metal.