Battlecross
Pursuit Of Honor Metal Blade Records
Battlecross are an outstanding Extreme Thrash metal band, with some Death and Tech Metal influences and a modern twist, that is frankly so brutal, you will need a lie down after listening to this metal thrashing, shredding five piece from Michigan.
With this album you can see and tell that Thrash / Death Metal is very much alive and kicking and seems to be getting stronger, with new bands such as Diamond Plate, Reflection in Exile and of course Battlecross, standing out from the other wannabes. These metallers are leading the way and the is future is insanely bright for the whole genre. Battlecross having already toured with bands like Dying Fetus, Gwar, Devildriver, to name but a few, and from reading reviews of live gigs, I see these guys are amazing very entertaining and really are worth going to see, when they make it over to where you live.
The intro is nice soft delicate guitar playing then it just all goes totally insane and melts your face as 'Pursuit of Honor' goes straight for the throat, as vocalist Kyle “Gumby” Gunther lets out a death defying howl and takes a grip of your shoulders and gives you a damn good battering. This first track gears you up for an exceptionally heavy, fist pumping album of brutality!
'Push Pull Destroy' is relentless and the intense riffage and brutality of “Gumbys” vocals don’t let up on 'Man of Stone' and 'Breaking You'. This is a thrash fans idea of heaven, with ear-shattering screams and heavy riffs. The next two tracks 'Leech' and 'Better off Dead' leave you in no doubt of the pedigree of this band and these two tracks being played live, side by side, you can close your eyes and imagine a maelstrom of heads being banged and bodies being thrashed to these two songs as mosh-pit after mosh-pit erupts.
In fact I would say my favorite tracks on the album are 'Better off Dead', it has everything that you would expect from a thrash band, with its fast paced drumming and immense guitar shredding, you simply can’t go wrong with this song.
Same can be said for the awesome 'Misery', which is a head-bashing smorgasbord of metal ripping at your brain and tearing into you like an exocet missile on speed.
The album finishes with a short track called 'Foreshadowing', which I would change to foreboding, as these guys are going to be whipping up a storm around the world soon. This album is a small taste of what these talented metal-heads can bring to the universe.
Review by: Seb Di Gatto
Tracklisting:
1. Pursuit Of Honor
2. Rush Pull Destroy
3. Kaleb
4. Deception
5. Man Of Stone
6. Breaking You
7. Rupture
8. Leech
9. Better Off Dead
10. Misery
11. Foreshadowing
