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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. And then there’s Patton, who can write catchy vocal lines to a glass factory implosion, making the jagged lurch of Seizure And Desist and the rickety doom punk of Obedience School flow as smooth as silk whilst sounding the angriest he has in years. The production maybe a little muddy (a surprise considering the legendary Ross Robinson twiddled the knobs), but with the way Dead Cross have become a sum greater than their parts, it would really be advisable for them, and beneficial for listeners, to funnel more attention towards this project.