Dead Cross
S/T
**** out of *****
A super group of thrash metal come together for Dead Crosses first self titled release and the players dutifully pay their respects to the genre with straight ahead blasts of pure aggression, but being the tricksters they all are there a few curveballs tossed into the mix
The dream lineup of Mike Crain - Guitar Dave Lombardo - Drums Justin Pearson - Bass Mike Patton - Vocals have worked with each other in various forms before but here they just go directly after it. Outside of Patton's caterwauling and vocal histrionics the group plays it pretty straight ahead; they lineup behind Lombardo's notorious double bass and slam directly forward.
The aggression and fury is palpable from opener "Seizure and Desist" blasting into "Idiopathic" The razor blade changes, shout outs and jarring Patton vocal shifts add a sense of exhilaration to "Obedience School" while the guitar beseeching of Crain pairs perfectly with the tempo changes of the assaulting "Shillelagh". The grinding and industrial feeling gets played with for "Bela Lugosi's Dead" switching up the feel of things while "Divine Filth" slams back into the thrash metal slime cutting through the muck like a chainsaw.
Patton adds his whacked out perspective, vocal effects and lyrics ("Blow out the candles on the urinal cake" from "Grave Slave" is a good one) to the table and those will keep any listener on their toes as he inserts distorted "woo's" and cat calls from hell, that unique approach will make any record he is on standout (sometimes not in a great way) but pairing him with such a talent backing band elevates Dead Cross higher then other tossed off side projects.
"The Future Has Been Canceled" is a hyper active blender of noise and drum fills while "Church of the Motherfuckers" is the doom filled cataclysmic finale. The production shifts from track to track, intentionally mucking up the sound at times, or zeroing in with crystal clarity sometime from note to note. The players are dynamite, the songs are explosive and jarring, in the end this is what any listener hopes that adventurous aggressive music should sound like.
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This was a fun bandcamp find that clearly won't be right for everyone. Support the band, buy the album, stream it below or on bandcamp, and peep some video:
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