Four fifths of this band are from Australia but the other fifth in the ranks is Proscriptor (Absu) who adds his considerable vocal abilities to this third album from a band whose name intrigued me, firstly because it doesn’t make sense if you take the two words literally and secondly I was hoping that the music would be some sort of gruesome hybridisation. My second point did indeed come to fruition but not necessarily in a gruesome fashion as whilst at the corrupt beating heart of Mongrel’s Cross is grievous blackened thrash the band peppers their songs with plenty of other styles most notably for me straight up metal of the filthy kind with sublime lead work.

Whilst Proscriptor may be used a major selling point for this album it would be a discredit to ignore the other musicians whose equally formidable abilities stamp their rancid authority on every second of this malicious release. I’ll admit here and now that initially I wasn’t enamoured with the album as the first listen it came across as plodding and lacking ingenuity and individuality but when you dig deeper into the songs you realise that this album has something hideously spellbinding about it.

Smashing into the listener is opener ‘Suffer The Witch To Live’ where occult like riffing is offered as blackened shroud is encapsulated in the croaky abrading vocal style. As the song gathers momentum the blast beat filters in where you’d be forgiven for not realising the speed had increased substantially. That unerring speed diverts the songs riffing into a savaging thrash style that fans of really old school retro filth riddled thrash will appreciate.

‘Fate Of The Grail Pt. I’ bursts into life with unceremonious wrath as the rabid attack blends in a tuneful hook as that thrash touch rears up hugely, but within the song are deft melodic touches too that inject atmosphere. Slowing down enormously is ‘A Magician’s Prayer’ where the song unveils a dark heavy metal posturing before the surging speed. Everything about this album is about riffs and how they progress from one to the other with seamless dexterity as the melodic bridging riffs add considerable depth to the song and the album overall. The vocals rarely change on the album which suits the grating guitar sound adopted as ‘Fate Of The Grail Pt. II’ returns the album to scalding speed as the snare becomes a total blur here. The morphing tempo switch and accompanying riff change is awesome, again producing a sort of dark heavy metal feel though executed at breakneck speed. I particularly enjoyed this aspect of the bands song writing as that occult aura I mentioned is really emphasised here when the lead work filters in. In parts the song reminded me of an album I heard earlier this year called ‘Darkness Silence Mirror Flame’ by US act Nite which you should also check out..

Blasting into action is ‘As A Being Undead’ which purifies the blackened thrash barrage into a chaotic architecture that you feel overwhelmed initially. However that shift into more atmospheric realms isn’t far away though my use that superlative is to be interpreted in the way the band utilises their riffing as this track is possibly the most frenetic and violent on the album. The speed continues into ‘What The Cards May Tell’ where the super-fast bursts ensure the song is much harsher and vicious before the tumbling tempo changes, which whilst short-lived enable the impetus to be wholly unyielding. The massive riff change in the last 90 seconds is monumental, completely addictive and surrounded by that excellent lead work I’ve mentioned.

Concluding the album is ‘The Whispering Void’ which if I’m honest I’m only covering because I like writing about the last track on an album but if the previous song and this one had been swapped round I think the impact would have been more forceful. However the song follows the same caustic riffing style but like before the injection of solo flurries stands the song in good stead against the previous song. The vocals seem to be more pernicious here, possessing an abrasive style as the song stamps on the accelerator. Again we get fluidised riff changes as the song unleashes a harmonised break that suits the drop in pace before scurrying the song back to the breakneck annihilation.

There is something quite quirky about this album, a ghoulish mystical aura wielded within songs that balance overt blackened thrash fury with sophisticated guitar work and an unholy barbaric vocal display.

(8.5/10 Martin Harris)

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https://mongrelscross.bandcamp.com/album/arcana-scrying-and-revelation