Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Crossfaith
Label: Mikarin Records
Release: 2018
Runtime: 10:45
Rating: 3.5/5
Does anyone still remember way back on 20.10.2012, when Bleed From Within and Bury Tomorrow played Orto bar? Well, the opening act that evening was Japan’s Crossfaith. They were smack in the middle of promoting their album »The Dream, The Space« (2011) and the EP »Zion« (2012) back then. A barely-known Japanese metalcore/electrocore band at the time, they got catapulted to the top of the popularity charts soon after, on their very next tour with Bring Me The Horizon around the United Kingdom. Since then, these guys have been packing venues with several thousand people a night.
What’s interesting about Crossfaith is that they’ve got more EPs out than studio albums. Considering the band has been roaming the planet since 2006, the latest and still current »Xeno« is only their fourth studio album. After it, Crossfaith first put out a split CD, and then racked up four more EPs through this year, the latest of them, »Wipeout«, right at the end of this January.
Given the rather mixed feelings that the album »Xeno« left behind, on which the band allowed itself a hefty dose of experimenting with programmed sound loops and at times even dabbled in an outright overgrowth of synth sounds, the EP »Wipeout« swings the picture back in favor of true-believer metalcore rhetoric, where, of course, piercing walls of riffs roar back into the spotlight! On »Wipeout« the synths step back into the second row. They’re still there, but pushed into the background of the mix. Meanwhile the band keeps that infectious rhythmic kinetic energy that forces the listener to move – »onto the wide metalcore dance floors of this galaxy«, so to speak. The three tracks are extremely well packaged and have everything that quality metalcore demands. Sure, Crossfaith aren’t starting a musical revolution here, but with this EP they keep up all of their recognizability, songwriting credibility and distinctive expression.
The EP also comes with a very good production, with no shortage of razor-sharp yet sonically thick riff terrorizing, backed by compact rhythms and the masterful command of the lead vocalist, who radiates the required authority in a confident performance. For Japanese guys, Crossfaith are, thank God, also nimble with the meter of English-language phrasing, which, compared to their Japanese peers, is definitely a big plus. There’s convincingly furious screaming in the verses again by the bucketload, and in the choruses that screaming turns into melodic clean singing! The compositions keep their compact appeal and are charged with energy!
A very well-crafted, slickly packaged take on the new EP, hinting that Crossfaith could be heading back toward the sound of their first two studio albums on their next full-length. That is, toward a rise in decibels in the sound picture, with the use of spiked guitar phrases that step back into the foreground on this EP. But careful now. No point in drawing conclusions too early, since Crossfaith have shown in the past that they like to try new things in their own music. Until the new album, then, we can enjoy the sonic terror of true Japanese metalcore blasphemy, served up by a trio of tracks running just under eleven minutes, on this more than exemplary EP!
Lineup
Kenta Koie – vocals
Kazuki Takemura – guitar
Terufumi Tamano – bass guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, programming, backing vocals
Hiroki Ikegawa – bass guitar
Tatsuya Amano – drums, percussion
Production
Crossfaith
Tracklist
1. Wipeout
2. Inside The Flames
3. Vermillion Gold
