Dead Cross - Dead Cross
“Having a band comprised of recognisable names means the public will sometimes offer amounts of immediate interest and blind latitude. Exhibit A: Dead Cross – featuring Justin Pearson (Retox/The Locust), Mike Crain (Retox) and some bloke named Dave Lombardo – found themselves performing on 2016’s 70,000 Tons Of Metal cruise despite not having an official recording to their name. Since then, they’ve been joined by Mike Patton and the anticipation for their debut release has shot through the roof. In this case, bringing people with proven track records together has resulted in a stellar release. At its heart, Dead Cross is a hardcore record, albeit a hexagonal-shaped one in which the angular complexity inherent to Justin and Mike Crain’s day gigs tightly jigsaw with Dave’s precarious precision.”
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Accept - The Rise Of Chaos
“Continuing the post-reunion run of albums that has firmly re-established Accept as modern guardians of old-school values, The Rise Of Chaos is unlikely to attract those who remain impervious to the atavistic truth of heavy metal, but Maiden and Priest aside, it’s hard to think of another band of this vintage that hit the bull’s-eye with such consistency. Once again produced to speaker-flattening perfection by Andy Sneap, this latest batch of Teutonic anthems is easily the strongest since 2010’s Blood Of The Nations.”
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Wage War - Deadweight
“Fearless knew talent when they signed it with this Floridian five-piece. Wage War’s 2015 debut album, Blueprints, set them apart from their metalcore peers, and Deadweight sees them maturing in all the right directions. Their latest has a comfortingly familiar style but both the songwriting and screamed/sung vocals have grown more powerful and neatly intertwined. This diverse album blends the crushingly heavy with the convincingly melodic to deliver something quite electric. Two Years, Disdain and Stitch deliciously spotlight the band’s brutal side, while Don’t Let Me Fade Away and the intoxicatingly catchy Southbound pull in the clean, heartfelt choruses.”
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