Alpha Omega

When most people think about thrash that crosses over; that nowadays misunderstood sub-genre known as crossover that most seem to associate with modern day metalcore, the first name to pop up on the radar is Suicidal Tendencies. While not to downplay the importance of this band, this fact tends to gloss over a very impressive field of bands and musicians that contradict that unfortunate stereotype that hard core punk influenced music requires minimal musicianship, a trait which the above mentioned band would stand alone in its contradiction to this sentiment. One other band that is often overlooked and definitely relevant in both thrash and hardcore music is Cro-Mags, a band that has never underestimated the power of the almighty riff.

When this band does tend to surface in discussion, it is often for their very auspicious debut “The Age Of Quarrel”, which was an early work that helped to establish this straight-line, aggressive, neck ruining style of music. Although not quite as powerful, “Alpha Omega” is definitely worthy of a good discussion, particularly if the subject is excellent songwriting. Essentially you take all of the elements that made mid 80s Anthrax and early Nuclear Assault so great, bring the tempo back to an upper mid tempo roar, and throw in about twice as many signature riffs, and you’ll have a rough idea of what you’ll be dealing with here. There is an equally solid command of gang choruses, wild guitar soloing, and all around good fun, albeit with a raspier sounding and lower toned vocalist.

Probably the second most powerful attribute of this album is the absolutely stellar all around delivery of every masterful composition thrown on here. The production is the textbook definition of crispness, with a large sounding drum back drop and a sweet fucking guitar tone that rivals the crunch and clarity of Metallica’s “Black Album”. The entire arrangement is among the tightest I’ve ever encountered outside of the pure thrash metal or progressive metal genre, standing in stark contrast to the looseness and occasional sloppiness of many underground punk bands. John Joseph’s tonal shouts are a little bit higher end than James Hetfield’s, a bit grittier than Mike Muir’s, and just a tiny bit more intelligible than Tom Araya’s, but embodies characteristics of all three.

Anyone looking for high quality crossover with a bit of a cleaner cut overall sound and a heavy emphasis on the thrash side of the equation are definitely encouraged to check this out. There’s really not much going on here to distract from the riffs, save a little piano interlude at the end of “The Other Side Of Madness”, an acoustic intro on “Changes”, and for anyone who has the special edition of this, a hidden track with about 5 minutes of crazy guitar noise and shredding. This is a shining example of no nonsense metal, free from over-experimentation, and packing enough of a punch to knock out an entire generation of poser metalcore brats. If you think that Suicidal Tendencies was great, definitely check this out.