Bastard Cross - Beasts of the Night

When I was in 3rd or 4th grade, I found and fell in love with Iron Maiden. Endlessly supportive but unsure how to navigate the nine-year old sloppily playing “Run to the Hills” on drums, my parents ventured their best guess and got me a CD of 80s hair metal hits for my tenth birthday. I sat for hours that day building lego sets and listening to the likes of Scorpion, Twisted Sister, and Warrant, steadily head banging the entire time. And, while I may have grown-up and moved on to more serious pursuits (Warhammer and black metal), I will always retain a certain fondness for the over-the-top, excessive energy of those big haired forefathers. 

All of this is to say there’s likely a reason I am so fond of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s Bastard Cross. Their polished blackened thrash attack, while enough to stand on its own, is accentuated by a knowing wink and nod to those brave men who cut the sleeves off their T-shirts before them. 

Take, for example, the EP opener “Nocturnal Ecstasy”. While there is more than enough shredding to keep the most hungry of thrash fans sated, it’s the stompy, arena-rock stylings that frame them that keeps you coming back for more. Similarly, “Whores and Hexes” feels like the black metal answer to Mötley Crüe’s own “Girls Girls Girls”, albeit owing more riff wise to Midnight.
The titular track, “Beasts of the Night”, shows that while the band is as comfortable in the graveyard as they are the beer-drenched dives. Big-four thrash riffs flavored with glam swagger are abandoned for the kind of sauntering black metal stomp your youth pastor warned you about. “Fükkin' Maniac” caps things off with more standard thrash fare, though perhaps with more of a hint of NWBHM pioneers such as Venom.