Album: Inverted Crosses
Year: 1986
Genre: Thrash Metal / Death Metal
Oh
god. Looking at the back cover of this
record should have made me pull a Kool-Aid Man right out a wall and leave it in
the rubble. It’s on New Renaissance
Records; one of the most inconsistent independent labels when it comes to
quality. The title is Inverted
Crosses and has a bunch of floating inverted crosses all over the back
cover that looks like a first-year graphics student threw together. The drummer has a Gold’s Gym, self-cut,
sleeveless shirt on while flexing his arms in a “relaxed” position in his
lap. WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! This has signs of horribleness written all
over it. The front cover art is pretty
rad, though. Did I run? Nope.
Scooped it right up. Know what? If I followed my asshole,
judgmental ways I would’ve missed out on one of the more ferocious thrash
offerings of 1988. The Unsane were good
and Inverted Crosses is a savage listen.
The Unsane lifted
heavily from the Slayer Hell Awaits / Dark Angel Darkness Descends
/ Viking Do Or Die method of thrash. The difference is these guys
narrow it down to about 3 riffs per song and keep everything under 180
seconds. By doing this, they pulverize the listener and leave zero room
to breathe. Taking it easy is not in this band’s DNA. This thing
flies along like a caffeinated rhino trying to obliterate all in its
path. Some midtempo bars exist amongst the chaos, but, in a flash, it’s
off again to the death races; hacking, slashing and burning until the final
note. At first, the production might
make you question their decision of tones and mix, but it soon becomes clear their low-fi approach fits perfectly with the band’s barbarity and velocity. Their overall vehemence is intimidating. Imagine taking Seven Churches and
turning each song into a 3-minute atomic blast.
The songs become heavier and more volatile right up to the finish
line. When the final knockout blow of
this 6-song album hits, you have no choice but to turn the record over and drop
the needle on side one again, because, unfortunately that’s all you get. Find this record.
Listen to "Legions Of Violence" here.
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