Dead Cross - Dead Cross EP



A short and out of nowhere follow-up to the debut record from Mike Patton’s and Dave Lombardo’s crossover thrash collaboration project, Dead Cross, the four-song Dead Cross EP brings two new songs (“Skin of a Redneck” and “My Perfect Prisoner”) and two remixes of songs from the debut album (“Shillelagh” and “Church of the Motherfuckers”). It’s not really any creative departure from what the band were doing on their debut record, and follows a similar chaotic hardcore punk and thrash format.
“Skin of a Redneck” is the slightly slower of the two, with Patton’s vocal eccentricities under the spotlight for the most part. It’s certainly more of a B-side though, as it would maybe have been just a bit excessive as an addition to the debut LP with not much new to bring to the table, only lengthening the experience whose brevity served as a benefit.
The quicker, punkier “My Perfect Prisoner”, on the other hand, has a pretty catchy (though weirdly shouted) refrain and a chaotic but enveloping percussive riff backing it. It might have actually fit in well on the album, being so short and introducing a few memorable musical motifs.
The remixes are kind of cool, the “Shillelagh” remix warping song’s beat and vocals into a head-nodding electro-rocker not the most memorably, but pretty enjoyably for its time while it’s on. The “Church of the Motherfuckers” remix takes a slightly more glitchy approach to the instrumentals, leaving the vocals alone and complimenting them with a creepy and sometimes explosive electronic percussion base.

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