More killer blackened hardcore from the black maw of the Holy Terror compound. Curated by frontman and founding member of legendary metallic hardcore band Integrity, Dwid, Holy Terror has been producing a small but impressive series of (mostly) 7"s from the likes of Gehenna, Oede, and Vermapyre, with a focus on the apocalyptic and sonically raw. The label might not have the busiest release schedule, but I've loved every one of its releases so far, with most of the bands featured delivering some wildly unique, offbeat heaviness. One of the common traits that these bands share with one another is an air of mystery, of anonymity, with some of the bands having little to no information available on them, a level of obscurity that leads me to believe that a few of these bands might just be the work of Dwid himself. Just as little is known about the one-man band Broken Cross, who continues that tradition of cloaking the band's identity in mystery; from the Septic Death-style band logo and the bits of Process Church iconography that peer out from the murky grayscale artwork on this EP, you'd probably think that this was going to be another Integrity-worshipping outfit a la Rot In Hell.

Instead, Broken Cross blast a far more fucked-up brand of metallic hardcore on their debut 7", the first side of which contains the band's New World Soldier demo. The vocals are an insane delay-drenched croak, unintelligible end time visions puked up through a fog of echo and reverb, while the music is a blistering mix of scummy low-fi production, soaring metal guitar solos and majestic harmonized leads, weird samples, primitive speed-fuelled drumming that sometimes breaks into a vicious D-beat sprint, and a razorslash guitar attack that seems to draw more from both classic Japanese dementoids G.I.S.M. and mid-80's Iron Maiden than anything stateside that I can put my finger on. All of that changes with the last track, which has the band slipping into a weird industrial noisescape that sounds like some distant Neubatenesque clank being perpetrated by a squad of goblins. This EP delivers some supremely fucked-up, weirdly psychedelic metalpunk that's way more unique sounding than I expected, but which still fits in perfectly with the whole maniacal Holy Terror aesthetic. Can't wait to hear more from this band, whoever they are...