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May 2025

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December 2024

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[ More Music Reviews ]

Blind Cross: Merciless Time

Heavy Power Metal Rock

4.0/5.0

Website (Label)
Pure Steel Records
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 26.06.2019 | Released: 05.07.2019

Some guys just can't sit still. They've got to stay busy. Apparently that's the case for metal vocalist Juan Ricardo. He has two other bands running concurrently, Sunless Sky and Wretch, both quite active in output in recent years. So why not add a third? Ricardo introduces his new project Blind Cross, an American and German alliance which features guitarist, composer, and producer Rocco Stellmacher (Gorgon Eyes), Double Action drummer Andy Korte and bassist Matias Hörold. Merciless Time is their debut album for Pure Steel Records.

Blind Cross

We'll keep this simple. If you like Sunless Sky or Wretch, you will dig Blind Cross. If you like traditional heavy power metal with a good dose of hard rock groove, you will find Merciless Time to be right up your alley. If you like guitar-driven melodic heavy metal, Blind Cross delivers the goods. The main composer and producer is guitarist Rocco Stellmacher so you'll find brisk and harmonious riffage and then, of course, roaring and soaring guitar solos. As with his gigs with Wretch and Sunless Sky, Ricardo offers his strong and rising Halford-like metal vocals. As for the songs, the encompass all these things. For a fine mixture of heavy and power metal listen for Doublecross, Rise Or Fall, or The Yeti's Call. Some true power metal arrives with Infrared and the racing Material Law. You'll hear the hard rock groove rise and drive The Hammer And The Nail. With Bioluminosity, Blind Cross offers something lighter at the start with voice over softer electric guitar before developing into a metal anthem. In the end, with Merciless Time, Juan Ricardo and Blind Cross deliver the goods: classic and entertaining, guitar-driven, "keep it true" heavy metal. Recommended.

Nitrate: Open Wide

Melodic Hard Rock/AOR

4.5/5.0

Created by songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Nick Hogg, Nitrate hit the ground running with their popular and well-received 2018 album, Realworld ... [ Read More ]

Note: All Amazon advertising in this review first benefits the artist, then Craig Hartranft also receives a residual. Click, and thanks for your support.

With Merciless Time, Juan Ricardo and Blind Cross deliver the goods: classic and entertaining, guitar-driven, "keep it true" heavy metal. Recommended.

Alphabetical Index

Three decades on and still going strong is the iconic progressive rock band, The Flower Kings, founded by veteran multi-instrumentalist and composer Roine Stolt. Since 1994, The Flower Kings have been known ... [ Read More ]