Perhaps it’s because October is spooky season, but holy smokes was the month packed with blackened thrash/speed releases, and some top shelf ones at that! Considering the trend, it should come as a surprise to virtually nobody that many of the crop waited until Halloween, which just so happened to fall on a Friday this year, to unleash their devilish music upon this wretched planet, one such band being Bastard Cröss. Formed in 2021, Bastard Cröss is fronted by our pal Chevy McQuaide Jr. (AKA Heathen Chevalier), who last graced these virtual pages almost a year to the day with fantasy-obsessed speed kings, Skullovich.
Now whereas Skullovich are a high speed thrash outfit who occasionally channels the demonic glory of ’80s black metal, Bastard Cröss specialize in full-fledged blackened thrash, or at the very least retain their blackened qualities even when they aren’t thrashing per se. Their debut full length, Crossripper, is fast, filthy, and hellish in every way imaginable, from lyrical content and production values, to the barbaric musicianship and flaming hot riffage. The epic, USPM derived explorations of Skullovich are nowhere to be found here: Just one riff-driven gut-punch after the next, guaranteed to strike fear into the hearts of those who fancy clean production and cleaner melodies.
For a band who, at their core, are a blackened thrash act, they sure know how to pen a mean black ‘n’ roller. Look no further than the opening whiskey-fueled onslaught of “Parasitic”, and that’s just the beginning! Granted, I’m well aware of McQuaide’s affinity for acts like AC/DC, Motörhead, and Venom, whose demonic rock n’ roll swagger is channeled on cuts like the aforementioned “Parasitic” as well as “Satanic Pandemonium” and “Demons at Midnight”, the latter of which boasts riffage similar to Ratt’s “I’m Insane”. Throw in some punk rock aggression, and you’ve got some black ‘n’ roll basement kegger bangers that go toe to toe with Midnight’s modern day standards.
When these bastards are thrashing it up, they manage to sonically lie somewhere between Sodom’s witching metal era of the mid ’80s and the “thrashened black” scene of the ’90s, as I like to call it (i.e. Aura Noir, Nifelheim, Deströyer 666, etc.) Falling into the former are unholy thrashers like the title track, “Phantom Pestilence”, and “Lycan Knights”, which had they dropped in ’84, would’ve struck fear in the heart of your average Scorpions-shirted metallist, but strike the interest of a young Brian Slagel. Meanwhile, demonic jewels like “Headless” and “Sarcophagus” prove that if they wanted to, Bastard Cröss would be a damn solid meat and potatoes black metal act, but why settle for that when they can thrash, speed, and rock with equal confidence?
Put all this badassery together and Bastard Cröss make themselves a formidable presence in the ever-growing first wave black metal worship scene. There’s nothing lazy, formulaic, or by the numbers about Crossripper. True to its title, this is one ripper of a record, guaranteed to get your heart pumping at 666 BPM and push your neck muscles to their utmost limit. There’s no escaping the “Phantom Pestilence” of these “Lycan Knights”. Brace for attack or die!
7 out of 10
Label: Morbid and Miserable Records
Genre: Black/Thrash Metal
For fans of: Midnight, Sodom, Wraith