Bastard Cröss - Crossripper

Angry Metal Guy

As a massive fan of anything that creeps, crawls, horrifies, or shocks, I enjoy no season more than Halloween. And since October 31st falls on a release day to steel-toed-boot this year, and with me closing in on my first 365-day stint as a staffer at AMG no less, I was especially eager to recover something particularly apropos from the promo pit. Enter Philly’s fresh and ferocious foursome, Bastard Cröss, and their Morbid and Miserable Records debut album, Crossripper. Formed in 2021, with a couple of EPs and splits tucked under their bulleted belts, Bastard Cröss come correct from the crypts of Philadelphia to regale us all with crude, blackened-thrash tales ‘inspired by horror movies’ and ‘notably dark and violent documented events from religious history.’ Sounds like a recipe for tons o’ fetid fun as this most horrible of holidays draws nigh. Does Bastard Cröss have what it takes to toll Samhain’s bell, though, or are they just one more razor-blade-filled treat meant to trick us?

Bastard Cröss play Neanderthalic, throwb(l)ack thrash, and it’s clear they poured every ounce of their blood, sweat, and beers into Crossripper as it sounds like a long-lost 1985 album that would’ve had tape traders salivating back in the day. Forged in fires from an age when Slayer were still Showing No Mercy and Bathory had yet to quaff a drop of Blood Fire or Death, and with a pinch or two of punk attitude ala early Motörhead and Anti-Cimex thrown in as well, Crossripper is robustious and raw. Album opener “Parasitic” sets the table by delivering all the Bastard Cröss goods. Infernal Bastard’s pulse-quickening drum intro gives way to Beheader of Priests’ heaving bass and the satisfyingly speedy, dual guitar mayhem of Blasphemous Axe and Heathen Chevalier, who also share vocal duties. Their approach runs the gamut from Quorthonic croaks and Tom Araya-like wails to everyman gutturals that would complement any would-be death outfit to a tee. Adrift in the sea of metal’s retro movement—more modern comparisons to Nocturnal or Deathhammer are apt—Bastard Cröss stand out by injecting perfect amounts of mayhem and melody into Crossripper’s well-written, tightly executed songs.

Crossripper by Bastard Cröss

Bastard Cröss are nothing if not all-out balls-to-the-wall, horns-held-high fun. Memorable moments abound throughout Crossripper’s easily digestible thirty-seven-minute runtime. Whether plodding forth in Morbid Tales-like fashion before death galloping along (“Crossripper”) or wammy diving your ears into liquified submission (“Lycan Knights”), by the time the beer-can popping sound byte accentuates the punk-in-cheek attitude swarming the start of “Satanic Pandemonium,” you should be thrash-stomping your drunk ass all over the living room and smashing empty PBR cans against your forehead. Bastard Cröss even manage to squeeze in an admirable homage to 80s hair-metal cock rock in the form of “Demons at Midnight,” a song possessed by sleazy riffage and another one of Crossripper’s many catchy-as-hell choruses. I even looked forward to the beautifully executed, acoustically driven outro to the excellent album closer “Behead the Priest,” which features some angelic, cherry-on-top vocal emanations from Marisa Monaco.

Everything about Crossripper oozes speed-laced, devil-metal nostalgia. From the primitive, yet perfectly rendered, Sandy Rezalmi cover art to the cheeky, we-mean-business band aesthetic and appropriately raw, period-style production, Bastard Cröss nail so many things on Crossripper, I’m left with little to complain about. In fact, I can’t look back on any part of my time with Crossripper and say I didn’t enjoy it. I suppose my lone critique would be that if Bastard Cröss continue swimming in the pool of retro-80s speed-blackened thrash metal, it might be a bridge too far for them to cross and achieve any level of innovative greatness. Not that this is a death sentence by any means. Should Bastard Cröss continue to put out this level of quality horror-loving retro metal, they’re poised to enjoy a pretty solid career.

I’m not the biggest fan of the phrase ‘mileage may vary,’ but I feel it’s appropriate when it comes to summarizing the Bastard Cröss experience. Crossripper doesn’t do anything you haven’t probably heard before. But what it does do is pretty damn good. In this digital age, when there’s more music at your fingertips than at any other moment in history, it’s assessing what music warrants your time and, in some cases, hard-earned cash that has become the commodity by which reviewers provide the most value. And I can assure you, spending thirty-seven minutes with Bastard Cröss and Crossripper this Halloween is definitely worth yours.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Morbid and Miserable Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: October 31st, 2025

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