Sunday, April 3, 2016

Crisix – From Blue To Black

From Blue To Black” is the third offering from Spanish thrashers Crisix. Admittedly this is my first foray into their music, but it has proven to be an excellent place to start because this album is filled with devastatingly thrashy riffs, and surprisingly hooky songwriting. One of the main strengths Crisix has is their diversity. Although their basic formula is somewhat similar throughout the record, they’ve managed to come up with some unique riffs and vocal patterns on this record. Whether it’s the painfully catchy shouts of “Conspiranoia” that kick things off, or the epic closing moments of the record on “Fallen”, Crisix always has something unique to offer.

Even the vocals manage to switch up their approach relatively often. Make no mistake, Crisix’ singer is more on the rough side of things. He’s pretty far removed from basic thrash shouting (though the band still gets that in by making extensive use of gang vocals, especially on “Journey Through The Fire”), and instead approaches death metal at times. On the other hand, he also displays the ability to dial things back when required, as well as the ability to pull off some wicked high-pitched notes. As with their music, diversity is the key to Crisix’ vocal success, as they manage to take a singer who would be one-dimensional in the vast majority of bands, and unleash him to do his own thing.

A couple of individual highlights are “T-Terror Era” and “From Blue To Black”. The former song really gets going with a high-speed chugging riff that will induce serious neck pain, and the remainder of the track ultimately features many of the best riffs on the entire album. The title track similarly shows the band firing off absurdly fantastic riffs, including an awesome semi-melodic intro. This song is among the faster ones on the record, and as we know in thrash: speed is king! 

On the whole “From Blue To Black” is a pleasant surprise. In an age where it is difficult to differentiate between thrash bands, Crisix stands out simply because they’re not a one-trick pony. Yes, this album has many thrash clichés, but that just means that it is true to the subgenre. It doesn’t abuse those tropes in an effort to sound like “Bonded By Blood”. Instead, the band adds their own unique flair to make this record worth owning!

Be sure to check out and like Crisix on Facebook!

Highlights
"Conspiranoia"
"T-Terror Era"
"From Blue To Black"

Final Rating
4.25/5 or 85%. 

Written by Scott

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