Many Doom Metal bands are tributes to Black Sabbath let’s say the truth. Most of them just relive the sonancy Black Sabbath had in the 1970s mostly from their classical era. The Cross, as I aforementioned, don’t. They manage to go farther. They managed to reach other horizons with their music. The influence of both bands I quoted above can be felt directly in their music. Vocals and atittude from Cirith Ungol plus some guitars, the shoegazed tempo and long tunes from Candlemass. That’s the combination plus some oriental music influences here and there. The Cross added to their music more melodic guitar phrasing and licks which give them their personality. As some of their peers there is something of liturgical around tracks as “Ouroboros” and all the despair around it. The guitars give the liturgical mood here and they make a hell of a difference into the bands music. I dare to say that they give the band its personality.
Though “Act II: Walls of the Forgotten” begins with “Behind the Stone Gate” whose initial guitars sound a little standard, the album has a lot to deliver the fan. Soon the guitars phrases change into tonal guitar chords which give that extra punch plus the slow and extra heavy drumming. Things get a little different with the vocals which addresses to the mighty Cirith Ungol chants. Nine minutes of pure magic and mesmerizing music. Slowly the fan will get into the atmosphere The Cross created and into the album. “Act II: Walls of the Forgotten” isn’t an album to be forgotten. On the opposite, it’s an album to be cherished.
The Cross “Act II: Walls of the Forgotten” was released on May 27th via Pitch Black Records.
Track Listing:
- Behind the Stone Gate
- Walls of the the Forgotten
- Beyond the Eyes of Seth
- Sonnestein Castle
- Umbral
- Ouroboros
Watch “Behind the Stone Gate” official music video here:
I’m just a lucky guy who has chosen metal to live with for a long time. Metal changed my life for good. It made me more confident and stronger. Metalheads are naturally far away from the mass mediocrity and don’t accept impostures from anybody else. Metal is more than music, it’s a life changing oportunity!