Hailing from Philadelphia, this is Bastard Cross's first full length after a spate of splits and singles. It's top notch black/thrash that will remind you of classic blackened thrash but with plenty of harsher black metal and cleaner thrash in the mix. It's well-recorded, perfectly produced. The vocals are harsher than with most bands this style, growling away in true black metal style overtop the thrash. Occasionally they dip into death metal territory to add some intensity. High-octane speed is the name of the game here, as is skilled musicianship. They stand head and shoulders above most bands playing this style, on the strengths of their songs and quality of their craft. They put to shame many other bands playing black/thrash, and I'm glad I stumbled across this record. This is fine metal, for metal fans by metal fans.