Battlecross - War Of Will Album Review

Battlecross actually hail from from the land of Motown and motor cars - that’s Detroit, Michigan for you young folk - which is mind-blowing because they sound like a rhythmic (not melodic) death metal band (is there such a thing?) from the land of Norway.

The growls are death metal-esque but not so much so that you need one of those machines they use on the ghost shows to figure out what the hell the guy is singing. Then again, who cares? It sounds good and that is all that matters.

Track Two, ‘Flesh & Bone’ is something right out of Guitar Hero with complex chords and melodies but then it just rips open to “holy hell, how does this guy have lungs left?” screaming. Kyle ‘Gumby’ Gunther definitely has a Randy Blythe (Lamb of God) aura going on with the vocals between the screaming and the growling. The vocals meld exquisitely with the tremendous technicality of the instruments.

‘Wage A War’ possesses every element of almost every heavy metal song ever made. There’s screaming, melodies, harmonies, more screaming and chanting choruses; almost anthem like in nature. And the ‘War’ concept is all about waging war on yourself and staying true to you. In this age of everyone trying to be carbon copies of everyone else, we definitely need more messages like this song!

The best song on ‘War Of Will’ is ‘Beast.’ I cannot articulate how awesome this song is. Get the CD or get the song off iTunes and just listen. The haunting opening of drums coupled with stunning rhythm guitar and chilling bass lines, gashes into a mind-blowing song that has to be listened to twice.

P. S. There is some fun at the end of the CD as Battlecross covers the classic tune off of Pantera’s Vulgar Display of Power: ‘Fucking Hostile’ about three times faster than the original. Nice.