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Tao Cross - Tau Cross
Released by: Relapse Records
Released on: May 19th, 2015.
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Tau Cross are being touted as a 'punk/metal supergroup' and I guess there's some truth to that. The band is made up of Rob "The Baron" Miller, vocalist and bassist from Amebix and he's joined here by Michael 'Away' Langevin of Voivod fame on drums, Andy Lefton of War//Plague on guitar and Jon Misery (of... Misery!) on bass. So these guys have paid their dues to be sure and the various sounds of their respective projects definitely seep into this current endeavor in some pretty interesting ways.
Lazarus opens the album and Miller's vocals instantly conjure up a weird hybrid of Motorhead's Lemmy mixed with Leftover Crack's STZA and Celtic Frost's Tom Warrior while the band keep things pretty straight laced and play a driven, focused, heavy sound with more emphasis on technique than you might expect. It's a pretty heavy, riff-centric, guitar driven track and it opens the album really well.
From here, the band gets a bit more experimental but never strays too far from their mix of crust punk and black metal. Fire In The Sky has a quick little keyboard intro but a few seconds later, it's put to rest and buried under everything else. By the time Miller's vocals creep in, this one is already headed in some different directions. It's actually pretty melodic in its own way, but it has that crusty honesty to it, again, thanks to Miller's vocals (which are really the stand out element here, as good as the band is). Stonecracker is fast, heavy, and pretty aggressive. Langevin's work behind the drum kit really gets to stand out here, it's pounding and extremely heavy but polished enough that you can appreciate just how damn good the guy is. Midsummer has a droney intro, as Miller talks about how 'these walls ear leaking memories again… open the vein, the blood of ages flooding in' - there's some high concept stuff going on with the lyrics throughout this record and while it's never cheery, it's hard not to appreciate the dark poetry that runs through pretty much every one of the twelve tracks.
Hangman's Hyll pushes its six and a half minute running time to weird musical extremes. It takes a bit of time to build but once it gets there it's a stand out track as it lets Miller's vocals go in different directions. He doesn't have the world's most amazing range but here he gets to hit different octaves and the track is more expressive for that reason even if the song is less aggressive than some of the others. We Control The Fear has a quiet, acoustic opening segue with Miller back in his vocal comfort zone almost crooning overtop. Stick with it, the track slowly but surely gets more intense and before it's over it'll win you over. You People returns the band to heavy territory, with a sort of stoner rock riff laying the foundation. There's a Killing Joke influence in here in a big way, but it's still very much the band's own sound rather than any sort of channeling that pulls you in. This is an angry one, but a righteously angry one. Prison has a heavy riff right up front, it's almost thrashy for the first few seconds but it moves away from that and instead returns to a more focused, driven sound. Like most of the other songs, it's angry and quite aggressive but the chorus has a very distinct melody to it that you might not expect.
Sons Of The Soil again has a more mellow, acoustic opening sequence but where with other tracks on the disc that started this way and went in a heavier direction this one stays fairly clam. The playing behind it gets weird and erratic but there's an obvious intention to focus on building mood and tone rather than blasting away. It's a somber and memorable track. The Lie has that stoner rock influence shining through again, a Sabbathy/doomy sound plays a bit part in this one. Miller's vocals reach towards the end but don't strain to the point where it sounds off, rather, it just adds sincerity to an album that is absolutely full of sincerity. When the guy sings, he really sounds like he means it. Our Day is a five minute long slab weird, fairly artsy noise complete with piercing feedback and droney playing, at least until we pass the 1:30 mark, at which point the kid gloves come off and it proves to be the heaviest thing on the album. It all finishes off with The Devil Knows His Own, a quick two and a half minute ballad of sorts, an unexpectedly fantastic acoustic track that is remarkable in its simplicity complete with what sounds like violins filling in the background nicely. It's the perfect close to an album that is as diverse as it is surprisingly focused. Tau Cross defy expectations and at the same time manage to deliver an album that perfectly sums up the past projects of the four different men who make up its roster. It's not metal and it's not punk but at the same time it's completely metal and completely punk. Go into this one with an open mind and you'll definitely appreciate this album for the nearly flawless record that it really and truly is.
