Hailing from the midst of pottery country Tamworth Staffs, Decimated Cross are a fairly young band playing UKBM. They have an EP, a few singles and 2020 album ‘From Pagan To Waste’ to their name so far and I notice we caught them live once in Manchester sharing the stage with Nahemia & Vehement. Playing a strong set that night they slightly confused our reviewer as for some reason it was an instrumental one. Perhaps bass player / vocalist Count Lucifuge had done his vocal chords in but rest assured he puts in a solid appearance on these 8 tracks with his elongated rasps which frankly give me a sore throat just listening to them.
Youthfulness aside there is no shortage of conviction and drive here. The band have a raw sound that takes one back to the 2nd wave of black metal with a nostalgic viewpoint bellying the age of the players. You even get a whiff of this from the song-titles and this is conveyed in the somewhat grim fervour the band whip up. There’s not the slightest hint of that cheesy clown-shoes silliness that has somewhat disgraced the UK scene in the past thankfully and there is an overriding sense of malaise and foulness exuded from the pits of their grave here.
With a waft of dungeon-synth sound the title track jangles in and drums slowly build a brooding beat. Rumbling in with thick bass coating a massive blood-curdling scream is unleashed and the mid-paced opener canters off taking you with it through an atmospheric choral break to a neck-cracking hungry fervour. Upping the ante to pure savagery ‘Ancient Woods’ goes for the throat and bites in hard. I noticed the songs here on the whole like having a pretty explosive entry, some settle down a little but this one is a headlong mad dash through the trees. I’m not sure how they fared on the night but it must have scared the unsuspecting when they played a Metal To The Masses show and even if they were too terrifying to end up winning a Bloodstock placement their forthcoming appearance at Darkness Over Cumbria seems much more apt.
Varying pace from coruscating feudalism to doomy murk ‘Mirror Of Tears’ allows a guitar solo to seep in and when we get vocals they have a deranged lunatic fringe about them and really hit the mark. Songs are kept lean and do not overstay their welcome, melody is simple at times but catchy and effective, ‘Necro-Ritual’ has a sharp cutting timbre for example and a primitive backbone that is utterly feral. ‘Infernal’ is enough to have you bursting out in boils, a plague ridden assault harshly rendered, scabs and all and the hunger and relentless fury doggedly follow you all the way to the album’s merciless conclusion ‘Castle In The Fog.’
I admit going into this one with no expectations and indeed somewhat sceptically but ended up being unpleasantly surprised. Leaving me suitably decimated and not in the slightest cross about having checked it out, this is a grave well worth exhuming.
(7.5/10 Pete Woods)
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