Dead Cross, the "four-headed hydra" of Mike Patton, Dave Lombardo, Justin Pearson, and Michael Crain, are back with their second album, II. The new record releases on Oct. 28 via Ipecac Recordings and includes the song "Reign of Error," which released this week in a timely takedown of the US Supreme Court.
While there is no shortage of difficult news these days, the album came together as Crain received a cancer diagnosis:
"Words can’t even begin to describe how much this album means to me. It’s birthed of pain and uncertainty,” Crain says in a press release. “The slow, excruciatingly painful, and nauseating recovery from cancer treatments were the catalyst for every riff and note on this album. However, my will to live and be with my brothers Justin, Dave, Mike, and co-producer Ross Robinson, got me out of bed and running into the studio every day to get it all on tape.”
Crain follows that description about the record with specifics about the lead single:
“’Reign of Error’ was recorded almost as quickly as it was written and I believe there’s a very good explanation for it,” he says. “I haven’t told anybody this before, least of all the rest of the band or Ross, but I honestly felt a strong presence in the studio that day. Those riffs flew out of me and when Dave sat down at his kit it was almost as if we’d played that song a thousand times before. It literally just happened so fast. Bam! One take. I’m not trying to paint a dark or fantasy-like story either. Having just escaped death and still healing from my cancer treatments I was incredibly sensitive to energy and the other side. There was someone else there. Not evil but benevolent and inspiring. I honestly believe it was Dave’s old bandmate and friend Jeff. I think he just wanted to jam with his friend again and perhaps did so through me. There I said it. Whether people believe it or not I really don’t care. I’m just grateful that I had that experience.”
Enjoy the early taste and come back for more when it releases in October. Dead Cross previously released a self-titled album in 2017 and an EP, also self-titled, in 2018.
II track list:
1. Love Without Love
2. Animal Espionage
3. Heart Reformer
4. Strong and Wrong
5. Ants and Dragons
6. Nightclub Canary
7. Christian Missile Crisis
8. Reign of Error
9. Imposter Syndrome
