In the press material for their debut album
\nSynthetic Division<\/i>, Crossbreed singer James Rietz explained
\nthat the guide for the Florida-based industrial group has been
\n“watching what other bands have done wrong.”<\/p>\n
Cocky? Perhaps – but what would one expect from a band whose
\neerie stage presence reminds someone of people who have lived by
\nChernobyl a little too long? Besides,
\nSynthetic Division<\/i> is ample proof that Crossbreed has done
\ntheir homework, so a little boasting is definitely called for.<\/p>\n
The band – vocalist Rietz, guitarist Chris Nemzek, bassist
\nCharlie Parker, keyboardist Flip, keyboardist DJ Izzo and drummer
\nTravis Simpkins – take all the lessons that groups such as Nine
\nInch Nails, KMFDM, Marilyn Manson and the like have put forth over
\nthe years, and combine it into one sonic attack that will knock the
\nplaster off of the walls. It’s intense; it’s frightening… it’s
\naddictive.<\/p>\n
From the opening riffs on “Severed,” one can tell that
\nCrossbreed are a band who refuse to conform to what any scene may
\nexpect from them – and they plan on taking no prisoners with their
\nmusical attack. Listening to tracks like “Pure Energy,”
\n“Underlined” and “Machines,” one can tell that Crossbreed is not a
\nband treading on well-plowed industrial ground.<\/p>\n
Oh, sure, the crunching guitar work from Nemzek and the
\nalternating shrieks and melodic vocal lines from Rietz – as well as
\nthe samples, though wisely used sparingly – suggest that this is
\nindustrial rock. But this is no mere photocopy; Crossbreed distills
\nall of its influences into its own unique sound – and the end
\nresult is nothing short of refreshing.<\/p>\n
While
\nSynthetic Division<\/i> is not the kind of album that can be
\nplayed at low volumes in the quiet of a brightly-lit room, it is an
\nalbum that does not have a weak performance on it. Every single
\ntrack is something to celebrate, right down to the painful cries
\nthat double for chorus vocals in “Lost Soul”. Make no mistake:
\nCrossbreed is a winner, and
\nSynthetic Division<\/i> is an album that is going to be very hard
\nto top. But if this disc is any indication of Crossbreed’s
\npotential, then one would have to say that if anyone could outdo
\nthis album, it would be Crossbreed themselves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28145,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7647],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-39541","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-crossbreed","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39541\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=39541"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=39541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}