Cross

Made up of one half of Sweden’s Masshysteri (vocalist Robert Hurula and drummer Erik Viklund), Cross play dark and grimy music that seems indebted to the almost primal, noisy garage rock of the ‘60s and ‘70s. The group’s loud, sinister, and chaotic 7” debut Pyre makes up for what it lacks in quantity with an overload of shrieky guitar, loud, echoed vocals, and hypnotic rhythms, kicking off with a thunderous title track that may as well be labeled as haunted house jazz. Hurula bellows out lyrics over ghostly, warbling saxophone blasts, shrieking guitar, and a heavy rhythmic bass, the track building towards a free jazz freakout in its final quarter.

The flip side of the vinyl features the brief, slightly more conventional “Repetition,” a track that’s comparatively groove-oriented and tightly structured. That name is appropriate: a large portion of the track finds the vocalist screaming the title over chugging bass, wailing guitar, and crashing drums but like the previous track, this one positively oozes with atmosphere. Ultimately, though I’d like to hear something more substantial from them, the ferocious Pyre makes a strong case for Cross being a band to keep an eye out for down the line.

8.0 / 10 — Andy