MAGIC CROSS - Self-Titled

We kick things off with 'The Fable', a track that slowly walzes forward on melodic drumming and heavily distorted guitar passages. The vocals arrive cold and brutal, their raw delivery drenched in reverb and adding to the bleak, deeply unfriendly atmosphere. The drums clearly dominate the composition, at times almost threatening to swallow everything around them. Yet with sinister vocals repeatedly forcing their way through the noise, that imbalance begins to feel strangely fitting, perhaps disorientation and chaos are exactly what MAGIC CROSS want us to experience. 

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Next up is 'Holy Bile', opening with high, screeching notes before down-tuned guitars and rhythmic melodies begin to pulse like a beating heart beneath the composition. Cymbal-driven drumming pushes everything forward, while agonised black metal screams drag us deeper into a surprisingly melodic and increasingly fast-paced centre. The bridge maintains that urgency but introduces a stronger, groove-laden undertone, accompanied by a throaty, almost hissing vocal delivery. Raw and unsettling, yet with considerably more movement hiding beneath the grime.

'All Alone' belongs to the bass. A thick, suffocating and heavily distorted bass line forms the backbone of the track, while cymbal-driven drums and almost thrash-like riffs move around it. In contrast to the surprisingly melodic instrumentation, the vocals are as cold as they come, stripped of any sense of hope or positivity and reduced to pure, raw hostility. That opposition gives the song much of its character before everything fades into an intensely distorted final tone, the kind of sound that makes you instinctively squint your eyes.

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We end our review with 'Hellhole', and there it is, my favourite track of the EP. Groove and punk-laden structures collide with incredibly bleak, sinister black metal vocals, creating a contrast that captures MAGIC CROSS at their most convincing. A brief, unsettling laugh in the vocal performance genuinely makes you freeze for a moment, adding another layer of hostility to the track. The instrumentation locks together remarkably well, with the bass used particularly effectively beneath the hammering rhythm section. Raw, infectious and deeply unfriendly, 'Hellhole' brings the EP to a fittingly forceful end. 

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With their self-titled debut, MAGIC CROSS deliver four tracks of raw hostility where black metal bleakness collides with punk energy and filthy groove. Distorted bass lines, chaotic drumming and genuinely sinister vocals give the EP its deeply unfriendly character, while enough melody lurks beneath the grime to keep things interesting. Rough around the edges by design, Magic Cross is a promising first strike from a band that clearly feels at home in the dirt.

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SCORE 7.5/10

REVIEWED BY SWAMPY