die Kreuzen

In 1984 die Kreuzen debuted with one of the most distinctive sounding documents in Hardcore. Dan Kubinski's chilling, if-cockroaches-could-sing vocals were skin-creepingly incredible, especially when heavily layered as they were on tracks "All White" and "Live Wire." Somehow the band managed to play at amazing velocities while keeping every note distinct: each staccato riff cuts as clean and deep as a scalpel. Not content to rest on their laurels, the band turned to edgy, atmospheric textures on their second album, October Faction. The Metal-weighted material on the album took tempos down and raised the emotional stakes of their songwriting. "Cool Breeze" is a rainy-day plaint that prefigured the stark, lachrymose moments of Gone Away. On Century Days (1988), the band continued to display an unusual ability to break listeners' hearts at one moment and have them breaking a sweat the next. The album is by removes gorgeous and gutting.