The Japanese band Crossfaith has been releasing an EP quite regularly the past few years, keeping their fans sort of happy. Last one Freedom was an awesomely energetic piece of music with a really heavy layer of electronic music and a few cool guests that delivered on quite an electro metal party (for the review go here)! Now theye’re back with the third EP in a row: Wipeout. Considering the different ways their music can go and often does go, I was curious what this 3 track disc was going to bring this time…
What immediately is clear with opening track Wipeout, is that they dramatically dialed back the amount of electronic music and samples. This brings more of a focus on how talented these dudes are in writing modern metal/metalcore songs that’ll get you going at any time! A bit more reminiscent of their breakthrough album Zion, it’ll definitely make some older fans happy. At first to me it seemed like this EP was a less strong effort than the earlier ones, but by stripping down to the bare essence of their metal heritage they actually created a few bombshells here. Or like it goes about halfway Wipeout before a breakdown: “Brace for impact… 3… 2… 1!”
The strongest track of the 3 is most definitely Inside The Flames, opening with churning, groovy riffs, driving drums and a growling “Let’s go!”. The song is clearly the ultimate live song with parts for the crowd to shout along to, a soaring chorus and enough breakdowns to put together some massive moshpit moments! Vermillion Gold brings the heaviest side of Crossfaith to the surface with a very Bullet For My Valentine sounding track that explodes straight in your face with epic and thrashing riffs and solos!
Crossfaith surprises friend and foe again with another EP on which they don’t do what everyone would expect. Instead of continuing the way they were going with the Freedom EP, they stripped the music of most of its electronic music and sampling to bring some of their best and heaviest songs since long! Wipeout is a crushing modern metal piece that’ll please the old fans and bring in some new ones from all over the world…
Release date: January 26th, 2018
Label: UNFD
Tracklist:
1. Wipeout
2. Inside The Flames
3. Vermillion Gold
