“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%.
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