Dead Cross

by 
AlbumAug 04 / 201710 songs, 27m 38s
Crossover Thrash Hardcore Punk
Popular Highly Rated

Dead Cross’ freaky evisceration of hardcore, thrash, and noise rock is meant to burst eardrums and leave listeners in a daze. “The Future Has Been Cancelled” is a sonic tantrum, featuring Mike Patton’s coughs and gasps over bee-swarm riffs and drummer Dave Lombardo’s warp-speed beats; “Obedience School” blasts avant-garde intensity while also dropping operatic howls and fight chants into the melee. There’s even a version of Bauhaus’ goth classic “Bela Lugosi’s Dead,” which is contorted into hammering alt-metal.

In stores AUGUST 4TH! Dead Cross emerged out of a series of impractical schemes, fallen-through plans, and last-minute musical experimentation. Shows were scheduled before a single song was written, fans were formed before even one show was played. The chaos of its creation seems apt; after all, the band is comprised entirely of artists who have thrived playing tightly-coiled turmoil—intelligent dissonance disguised as disorder. Consisting of Dave Lombardo, Justin Pearson, Michael Crain, and Mike Patton, the impressive, expansive, and eclectic list of prior bands collectively played in would be enough to ensure the unyielding ferocity of the music... but a resume isn’t necessary, here. Dead Cross stands on its own, speaks volumes with its multilayered evil-genius vocals, manic guitar riffs, and brutal rhythms.

6.2 / 10

Though led by a fiery performance from Mike Patton, this Slayer/Retox/the Locust supergroup doesn’t shed much new light on the players involved.

B

Dead Cross, Dead CrossGrade: B+

7 / 10

8.8 / 10

To hear Patton and Lombardo celebrate their fifties with their most visceral work yet is absolute magic.

The eponymous debut from the all-star punk unit featuring Dave Lombardo (ex-Slayer/Suicidal Tendencies), Justin Pearson (Retox/the Locust), Mike Patton (Faith No More/Mr. Bungle), and Michael Crain (Retox/Festival of Dead Deer), Dead Cross delivers a lethal blast of hypnic jerk-inducing hardcore that's as wildly unpredictable as it is loyal to the genre's predilection for compact sonic vivisection -- the entire affair clocks in at just under 28 minutes.

Hardcore supergroup Dead Cross' debut album is a sonic rollercoaster, with all the positives and negatives that entails.

9 / 10

Supergroups are often hyped up by fans of the collaborators' main bands, leading to disappointments such as Lou Reed and Metallica's collabo...

8 / 10

The future is canceled, and the season of the witch is nigh. Mike Patton emerges once more from the dark side of his own blood moon, bringing with him enough personae to give James McAvoy's 23 personalities from the movie "Split" reason for permanent exile. This moment has been a long time coming, i...

9 / 10

Thrills and chaos are abound in the debut release from supergroup Dead Cross

4.0 / 5

A review of Dead Cross by Dead Cross, available August 4th worldwide via Ipecac Records.

7 / 10

40 %

There isn’t much Mike Patton can’t do, vocally—from a whisper to a scream, as the phrase goes.

Album Reviews: Dead Cross - Dead Cross