Coffin Joe
Sludgeheads...here's what you should be downloading right now!
The Sign of the Southern Cross have released "I carry the fire" for free as a treat for their fans, while they wait for the next album to come out. Let's just pause there for a minute..That's awesome! Do you ever see top dance/pop chart sellers do something like that? My bet is never! This tells me, the band cares about their fans, and besides it's a great way to get new listeners!
I don't know a dang about The Sign of The Southern Cross, but was introduced to it by Time Signature over facebook - finally FB was put to good use!
So what does the three track ep have in store for you? The first track "I carry the fire" is a good sludge-groove metal track along the same line as Pantera. It's definitely something you could bang your head to.
Second track "If you find yourself looking back" is a quiet song, and reminds me of Alice in Chains. It still have the southern feel to it, but this is where you hold up your lighter with one hand & grap your woman with the other (in case you lack a woman, you could cuddle a bottle of bourbon instead).
Third track "Doomswagger" treads familiar water with its thrashy induced southern sludge. It's a groovy & solid track.
Regarding the vocals, I agree with Time Signature, they tend to get a bit over the top, but fortunately it's not too distracting.
When you name yourself The Sign of The Southern Cross, you better deliver some damn solid southern groove-metal! I Carry The Fire is a solid three track ep, and it looks promising for the full album. It doesn't reach the level that Pantera did with Cowboys From Hell & Vulgar Display of Power, but that would be a lot to ask, since these two albums more than defined this genre.
If you like sludge or groove-metal you should really get this. With a pricetag of...uhm...nothing! - there really should be no debate. The lure have worked, because I'm looking forward to hearing the full album once it's available. I'll definitely have to see whether they can carry the fire or not.