CRUZ was formed in Barcelona in 2012 with the idea of starting a band
that mixed heavy and aggressive punk with dark old-school metal such as
Celtic Frost and Bathory. However, from very early on, their sound
became more aligned with the classic Swedish death metal style.
In 2013, the first CRUZ lineup was completed, and with that lineup, a
self-titled demo was recorded that same year and then released in 2015
by Raw War Tapes. In 2015, now with a different lineup, CRUZ entered
Moontower Studios and recorded their first album, Culto Abismal, which
was released a year later by To The Death Records, Sentient Ruin
Laboratories, and Selfmadegod Records. A European tour followed right after the album's release.
During the following years, after numerous gigs and various lineup
changes, a new CRUZ lineup was established in 2020: Imanol and Xavi, the
only remaining original members, on guitar and drums respectively,
alongside guitarist Michele, bassist Simone, and vocalist Narcís. With
this lineup intact, in 2021 did they record a new album, Confines de la
Cordura, once again at Moontower Studios.
Featuring lyrics both in Spanish and Catalan, Confines de la Cordura
absolutely CRUSHES from the very beginning: classic early '90s
Swedish-style death metal this may be, but CRUZ pump it full of an
urgency and electricity that simply can't be denied. The songwriting
simply stuns with its earworming flow, with malevolently majestic leads
riding atop the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse gallop, and Narcís'
annunciation dripping malice across each one of these seven stout
tracks. And while "Swedish death metal" may conjure images of the usual
suspects - Entombed, Dismember, and/or Grave - it's perhaps more
accurate to liken CRUZ to the idiom's culter names like Seance,
Desultory, or especially Unanimated; the obsidian gleams as brightly as
the blood-red here on Confines de la Cordura.
The dark-horse death metal album of the year? NUCLEAR WINTER confidently places its bets on CRUZ's Confines de la Cordura.