Dead Cross do their damn thing on II, an album that relishes in the simpler things in the background while remaining blatant, angry, and perceptive in the foreground.
Release date: October 28, 2022 | Ipecac Recordings | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Stream/Purchase
Analyzing the source of energy and effort of a band when they put out a project is always fun. Well… mostly – not every project was built out of goodness or positivity. Dead Cross aren’t exactly the positive types to begin with, but they sure do know how to make the best of situations, personal and public.
Frankly, we’re kind of lucky to be talking about Dead Cross still. The band could have very easily not continued with Michael Crain’s devastating, though not completely debilitating cancer diagnosis. Somehow, Crain found it in him to link up with his pals – Dave Lombardo (50 other bands, principally ex-Slayer, currently Mr. Bungle), Justin Pearson (The Locust), and Mike motherfucking Patton (another 50 bands, mainly Faith No More, also Mr. Bungle, Tomahawk, etc.) – to lay down tracks for this album. ‘Words can’t even begin to describe how much this album means to me,‘ he reflects. ‘It’s birthed of pain and uncertainty. The slow, excruciatingly painful, and nauseating recovery from cancer treatments were the catalyst for every riff and note on this album.‘
If that weren’t bad enough (it is), Patton had his own share of personal tribulations with a diagnosis of agoraphobia and accompanying alcoholism to cope with a very different world during COVID. Faith No More canceled shows to look out for their friend, and he got it back together enough to sign on for a couple shows in South America with Mr. Bungle. II is a direct result of all of this, and more.
With Dead Cross‘ explosive debut, it showed a supergroup that was out to do their own thing, amalgamating far-flung influenced into a thrashy hardcore middle finger to decency, especially religion (I mean, the band’s name is Dead Cross – look at this album’s cover as well). Their self-titled album gave us “Gag Reflex”, “Divine Filth” and “Church of the Motherfuckers” – II gives us “Christian Missile Crisis” and “Reign of Error”. Times have changed – Dead Cross have not.
That sounds like a critique, and I guess on a minute level it can be, but this is the modus operandi, my pals, amped up with more explorative functions than previous work. II can easily be read as ‘twice as much’, though there’s some caveats that will definitely sound like critiques. Though the band go pretty hard in many directions, not the least of which overall messaging and execution, it does appear blunted ever so slightly. To be fair, it’s hard to beat the crass, eruptive “Seizure and Desist” or the acerbic, sardonic “Obedience School”, whose edgy, brutal video was wiped from most decent corners of the internet for depicting actual cockfights. What I don’t miss is the misfire of a song like “Idiopathic”, which ended with more slurs that I’m personally comfortable with coming from someone like Patton. I got the point, I just didn’t like the approach.
Still, II feels hard-won and, most importantly, pissed. “Reign of Error” was a timely, acidic response to the US Supreme Court’s overturning of abortion rights to womb-havers, and its video makes absolutely no uncertain terms as to where they lie on the matter. ‘Get the fucker out‘ becomes a war cry led by Patton and Pearson (who’s a regular contributor to vocals on II), the ‘fucker‘ in question containing multitudes: is it a pregnancy to be aborted? The puritanical-ass court justices being ejected out of their robes into the sun? The answer: yes.
“Christian Missile Crisis” is a standout with Pearson on lead vocals. His more shrill approach to screaming is apt here behind the pounding instrumentation. This is a good place to mention Lombardo’s in top form here, and Crain, for all the pain he had to work past to forge the riffs on this album, is more consummate in how he employs Slayer-like melodies with idiosyncrasies like the surf rock-esque leads and wailing solos on this track. “Imposter Syndrome” is the album’s closer/haunting song, and Patton really digs into his wide-ass vocal range for it, though don’t let that sell the rest of the band short – guitars are manic, ghostly, and searing; drums vary greatly to carry the track’s mood swings well, and there’s just a sinister quality to it all that makes it all worth it in the end.
I love Patton, but honestly, the MVP of II is Pearson with his vocals. They complement everything well and I hope they continue to punctuate Dead Cross music as long as they are going. Production here is also a step up as levels feel more natural than they did on their first album. It’s true the band didn’t take much time to think outside the box with this album, but what they did instead was dress up the box real well over the last few years, through thick and thin, and that’s certainly worth something.
Dead Cross remain lurid – and mostly lucid – on II. The supergroup manages to maintain an alluring, oddly unique approach to what they do, so staying in their lane is quite all right when the lane was mostly theirs to begin with. With lots of hardcore treats on offer this year, it’s a tough prospect to reach the top, even for vets like these guys, but you’d be hard-pressed to find other offerings with as much spirit and perseverance embedded into it. This is an album grown from the soil of survival and defiance, a picketing sign with a sneering lack of subtlety because that’s the very least the motherfuckers that would love to see us dead or destitute deserve. Fuck ’em all – fuck yeah Dead Cross.
