Hot Cross - Risk Revival
Equal Vision Records, 2007
There are few releases slated for 2007 that came as hotly anticipated as Hot Cross' Equal Vision debut, Risk Revival. After the "screamo" supergroup (comprised of former members of Saetia, Joshua Fit For Battle, Off Minor, and even the founding drummer of Matador darlings, Interpol) jumped ship from Virginia's highly regarded Level Plane Records for greener pastures in the recently floundering Equal Vision, there was a lot of speculation as to how Risk Revival was going to turn out. Especially after its release date of August 2006 got pushed back six months after the band was unimpressed with Mike Hill's production.
Suffice to say that there was no sense in worrying. Unless, of course, you're the kind of person that is a bigger fan of times when Hot Cross was just Saetia Jr. instead of loving them for becoming their own band on 2003's Cryonics. If you're looking for the old-school Hot Cross, it's not to be found here. This album is decidedly more rock n' roll than any of their previous material, and former band member, Josh Jakubowski came through in the clutch after the firing of producer Mike Hill. Dual guitar parts from Casey Boland and Matt Smith (also the bassist) fill every void of silence in the album, making Risk Revival like a perpetual motion machine. It's very clear that the band has been listening to a lot of Drive Like Jehu, and the proverbial wall of sound that the instruments create is direct evidence of that.
When listening to some songs, you feel like the sound never stops. The band goes on and on without resting, and when you think a riff is over, it just picks up and starts again. All the hallmarks of Hot Cross' post-A New Set of Lungs material are there; complex and intricate guitar parts, frenetic drumming, and shrill vocals. However, what sets Risk Revival apart from other albums by the band is the expansion into new territory. Lead singer Billy Werner, known for his spitting/screaming work in Saetia, makes a lot of attempts to actually sing on the record, and believe it or not, a lot of it turns out to be pretty good. While some of the lighter fare falls flat in light of scorchers like "Kill the Name", "Turncoat Revolution", and "Fire the Foundations", some of the attempts at changing up their style prove to be successful. "Cardiac Silence" sounds like a garage rock reinterpretation of Pg. 99's glory days, and the doom-inspired "Silence is Failure" drudges through at a key point in the album, not to mention the barnburner of a closing track, "Scrape Wisdom".
Hot Cross are incredible musicians, and unlike a lot of bands in the same genre, they want you to know that. Unlike friends in bands like Lickgoldensky, Welcome to the Plague Year, and Combatwoundedveteran; Hot Cross doesn't want to focus on chaos. From the first moment, it's easy to recognize how structured each track is, and how well composed everything is. Like Don Caballero meets Rites of Spring. In the end, though, Risk Revival comes across like a Fun House era Stooges that's been practicing all day, every day in a meth lab that's actually just a small closet. And that sound is what makes it the best aggressive album so far this year. (4.3/5 Stars)
Key Tracks: "Turncoat Revolution", "Fire the Foundations", "Cardiac Silence", "Scrape Wisdom"
More Along These Lines: Saetia - A Retrospective, Yaphet Kotto - We Bury Our Dead Alive, These Arms Are Snakes - Easter
Download The Album In This Free Link I've Provided For Your Broke Ass: Hot Cross - Risk Revival
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Yo, yo, yo! I'm back, reporting from the Empire State (where Ghostface retired Ma$e). I seriously can't get enough of that damn Hot Cross album, awesome cover art, and great driving music, especially if you're driving through New Jersey. And it's surprising because I was kind of bored by it on the first couple of spins. I'm glad I waited this long before writing a proper review. However, I've been listening to quite the diverse playlist lately. Since my spring break, it's been pretty much all Megadeth, Girl Talk, and Hot Snakes. Seriously, I've been rocking Girl Talk's Night Ripper like three times a day for the last week. Imagine being able to hear every song on the radio at any given moment at the same time. That's what listening to Girl Talk is like; mash-ups to tha x-treeeeeeeeem! Speaking of To Tha X-Treme, the new Devin Tha Dude record is solid, I'll have a review for it sometime in the near future.
I'm switching over to MediaFire for my file-hosting needs at the behest of my boy Harrison, also, because apparently the links never die and it uploads faster and all that jazz. Honestly, I like it a lot better, it's solid. MegaUpload can puff a dick. Anyhow, there's another Flavor of Love marathon on (Season Two this time!) today, and I'm going to continue watching it, and maybe make myself a ham sandwich on white bread, and maybe download some porn. I saw Grind House the other day, and so I might also go ahead and review that along with Children of Men. But for now, I'm a watch Flava Flav get him some action on a boat. Later skaters!
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