Mongrels Cross    

The Sins Of Aquarius
Hells Headbangers 2012

Australia has no shortage of apocalyptic blackened death metallers and Mongrels Cross are the newest upstarts in this royal lineage!  Ominous tones are harbingers of the wholesale destruction that ensues on the title-track.  A total, full-speed assault shatters all barriers on the track bringing to mind the debut from Angelcorpse.  The track then slows down and becomes a demon of focused hatred, spitting out thrash riffs like a masturbating Dark Angel.  Rabid Inception unleashes a flurry of high speed devastation with blasts of aggression that drop into a galloping black thrash melee.  Of course the song shifts into crushing grooves and demonic menace.  Confident tempos and scathing guitar solos scorch the landscape on Lead The From The Promised Land.  The production is definitely different, but the initial riff pattern on Hunters Of The Born Again reminds me of Norwegian black metal.  Of course that influence is stripped away in favor of hyper blasts of annihilation that are more closely aligned with bands like Marduk.  There are hints of disharmonic riffs that bring to mind Voivod as the song develops.  Possibly the fastest, most uncompromising point on the album is the first 30 seconds of Revelations Transpire.  Later the song settles into a bouncy thrash groove that sets my head to banging.  The final track, When The Dragon Gives Birth cuts like a razor as glistening riffs slice through the initial stages of the song.  The riffs surge and crash like waves upon the listener's ears as the track draws closer towards its relentless explosion of speed and death.  The strange disharmonies that bring the song to a close add depth and diversity to Mongrels Cross as the listener is drug towards oblivion.  Somewhere between the wild savagery of Destroyer 666 and the apocalyptic annihilation of Angelcorpse you will find Mongrels Cross.  Unlike most of their peers, Mongrels Cross doesn't focus on speed for speed's sake.  The Sins Of Aquarius is giddy with its foaming rabidity and inhospitable barbarity.