Dismantle the Cross

Thrash metal is alive and well it seems. Dismantle the Cross is a live demo from a small-scale unsigned band, yet it doesn't blow hardcore ass. This is as raw as raw gets and you won't find me complaining one bit.

Since this is not only the band's first demo, but a live one, not much can be expected from the production. And yet, everything is audible, with no instrument really overpowering any of the others. Though the production suffers from a live demo, what does not suffer is the sheer ballsiness of it. Any and all mistakes will appear on this kind of demo, so when few are heard, it's quite a testament to a band's talent as well as their confidence. Execution has both, in big fucking heaps, and it shows on these three songs.

As far as performance, everything's a powerhouse. The riffing is fast and original, the drums are pounding and unstoppable, and the bass is accurate and fitting. Since there's only one guitarist, we get to hear a generally rare phenomena; that is, guitar solos without overdubbed rhythm tracks. That's right, it's drums and bass under those solos and nothing else. Dimebag Darrell used to do this, but he's the only other thrash guitarist I can think of off the top of my head. The solos themselves are somewhat rudimentary, but they're pretty effective. Guitarist Sal also supplies the vocals and it's relatively clear that he graduated from the Tom Araya school of metal wailing. Other than those occasional bursts of half awesome, half annoying metalness, he tends to stick to the typical shout-singing of thrash metal past. Solid performance from all three members.

Each song here is quality. "Torture" has a cool sampled intro before erupting into an all out thrash offensive. Lots of the Araya-like screaming and lots of great riffing and tempo changing. Easily the best song here. "Call of the Warrior" keeps the up the energy, but adds a few more mid-paced riffs. "Speed of Death" is a crushing way to close the album, maintaing the awesomeness of the previous two songs while adding some killer riffs. Lyrics are for the most part indiscernable for all the tracks, but I'll imagine that they're cool for the sake of the magnificent thrash that they're sung over.

All in all, a demo worth having. Thrash fans rejoice, these guys have the signs of greatness and it shouldn't be long til they put out something truly amazing.