Heavy Cross - Street Wolf

Because I had no acquaintance with the band, at first, I mistook the Finnish one-man-army for a punk-driven blackened heavy metal act, much like the latter excellence that Midnight is producing currently. Satanic Tyrant Werwolf's freshly blossomed project turned out to be a traditional NWOBHM band, one that that I can consider as just another mere fragment of the countless worshipers engulfing the scene today. Heavy Cross were lucky, however, as somehow they were found by the amazing Hell's Headbangers Records, a home that will no doubt affect their inclinations positively. That being said, Heavy Cross's style is pretty simple, just as you might expect, fabricating plain, gallop and chord driven progressions and meshing it with strong bluesy overtones, with the traditional flavor of Raven, Tygers Of Pan Tang, and old Maiden making up the very roots of the EP's zealously oriented formula.

I can closely relate Heavy Cross to another very latter and young band, Convent Guilt, though I've enjoyed the Aussie act's efforts more than this Finnish one, admittedly. The man behind the cross, Satanic Tyrant, is supposedly a veteran of the genre, one that at least has close familiarity with the genre's aesthetics, and he does project much of his fervor and well-hardened musicianship into the two songs that the EP has to offer, and thus, for eight minutes I can easily enjoy and bang my head to the light-weighted catchiness of the songs, but if the guy means to enlarge his congeal his material and form a larger whole,(which he probably does) than he'll need to do some improvements, some tweaks and he needs to fill in that open gash of emptiness with a few doses of divergence. The vocals on ''Street Wolf''' also remind me of Convent Guilt, preferring stay inside the firmly set boundaries instead of letting out uproarious emissions of high-pitched tone, which is something that I'm content with, but again, this renders the EP somewhat quelled, being devoid of the frenetic, evocative aura that it lacks badly.

The riffs are quite enjoyable nonetheless, mild, but hooking chug n' chords with sporadic tinges of melody inserted here and there. Much like many of the gimmicks today, Satanic Tyrant keep (or try to keep) the listener busy on strictly instrumental sections by narrating the riffs with simplistic melodies, without endeavoring much. There is a somber, melancholic, almost ballad-like sequence on the title track, which, I believe, was done to lengthen the track, and unnecessary deterrent, and I should also add that I enjoyed ''Red Light Woman'' more than the title track, mostly because its main riff is seriously catchy. Heavy Cross's efforts will not impress anyone, that's a surety, and albeit I'm not so zealous about forty minutes of this, I still can't deny that I've had a fun time giving this eight minute EP a listen. Frivolous stuff.

Highlight:
Red Light Woman

Rating: 75%