The group (Crosses) is an interesting representative of alternative rock with a huge admixture of electronics in which synthesizers stand out, and the rhythm section is mainly built on a drum machine. To summarize all of the above, we can say that the band plays in the genre of darkwave, dream pop, witch house and electronic rock. Although the group in an interview with A-ONE TV channel claimed that the music is more of a post-rock.
Founded by vocalist, notorious, metal band Deftones Chino Moreno and Sean Lopez from Far in 2010. Initially, the project was called Holy Ghost (Holy Spirit). In February 2011, the guys announced 16 tracks, but already in the summer of the same year, teasers with excerpts of songs and videos began to actively pop up on the Holy Ghost website, already under a different band name (Crosses) or †††. The further development of the group consisted of three studio albums in 2011, 2012 and 2014. They were all titled EP † (2011), EP †† (2012) and EP ††† (2014). 5 singles, 3 videos, Batman: Arkham City soundtrack. The long-awaited Permanent.Radiant 2022 album is the first big work after the band’s 8-year absence.
Usually such projects are doomed to failure, as we have seen from the example of many bands who want to somehow break through the thickness of modern music. Yes, and the departure of one of the oldest members of the team, Scott Chuck, but these guys made it clear that they are still on horseback.
The album includes 6 tracks, listening to them you will plunge into the early Deftones, mixed with electronics. Chino’s vocals, as always, are incomparable, it envelops, as if touching your skin, with a cold breath. All the ethereal vibes, fluttering electronics and 80s new wave references that made their previous material so enticing are reflected in the dark single “Holier”, the infectious opening track “Sensation” and the Depeche Mode-influenced “Vivien” featuring Moreno also borrows the phrasing of the chorus from Britney “Baby One More Time” Spears. Interestingly, the name of the group Crosses in translation means a cross, and the title of the last track in the Procession album is translated as a procession, together these two words can be translated as a procession. Let’s talk about this track today.
Procession is soul-stringing stuff gently pulsing with electronic drums and keyboards. In those moments when the guitar nevertheless makes itself felt, it becomes another layer, and not a grandiose central element of the composition. Procession of those songs that make you think, of those songs that stay in your head, accumulate there for a long time. The meaning of this song is very multifaceted.
The old man Moreno talks about the distant past, present and future. About humanity that does not look into the past, does not take into account the mistakes of its ancestors, which leads to suffering and unbearable pain. In fact, the entire album is saturated with the oppressive atmosphere of the failure of being. The procession became the final chord in a six-song epic of depressive madness. The author in the lines of the song acts as the voice of reason, trying to convey to people the universal truths in the language of art. He asks questions that no philosopher or sage can answer: Human life is fleeting, who needs us in this world of Hausa, who will remember us after we are gone.
The modern reality is such that there is no time for anything other than work, no time to ask important questions that seem unimportant to us. Unfortunately, only listening to such songs gives us time to immerse ourselves and think about what we will leave behind, dust or whatever will be something to cling to.
The track lasts only 3:55, almost 4 minutes, but from the first seconds you understand that this is what you will listen to until the end. In the very first line we hear “The new world craves the unseen”, Modernity requires you to develop and constantly work, if you do not have time, then the world will leave you on the sidelines of life. You can’t just exist, his thirst is insurmountable.
Next comes the chanting of the departed, because it is only thanks to them that we exist.
The second verse continues to escalate “Birth of one and a myriad of empty flashes. We are, we were, and we will not be.” We are born unnecessary to the world, crippled by the system from birth. Who are you? You are a person of the state or the world, it does not matter. Here you are, but you are not, you will not remain even in the annals of history, you will simply disappear.
The third verse deals with the theme of deities. Here is the man of the system. He is a small gear in a gray soulless world. Simple joys are a thing imposed by society, a new vacuum cleaner or maybe a car, do you really need it? We are fed up and when everything becomes unnecessary, when nothing brings joy and reverence, we remember what may have become our creator. Gods, looking at us from the stars, perhaps they will give us answers to all questions. Chino imagines our world as a zoo, which is watched by the invisible rulers of our world.
The fourth verse continues the series of thoughts about the gods. Perhaps people are reborn over and over again, humanity leaves a bright mark on itself. But for some reason, we do not want to learn from our mistakes, giving birth to the most terrible monsters. Time after time, voluntarily handing over the reins of government to tyrants and usurpers, we sign a document on humiliation and humiliation, possibly on the destruction of a certain layer of people, often ordinary people. Thus, turning the world not into a divine zoo with comfort and prosperity, but into an endless menagerie.
The fifth verse begins with words about the chordate fossil Pikayu. Why did the authors mention it? The fact is that Pikaya existed millions of years ago and was the simplest worm. Could this creature realize its place in the world, I think not. So is a person, no different from that worm, continuing to live in ignorance.
In the sixth and seventh verses, the authors write about a possible human future. The world will be reborn and from the ashes of the past the sprouts of a “different” civilization will appear “At the end of the number pi, and the harvest has come.” We will remember the past of our world, we will understand that everything that happens is our work. “The ship-earth flies through the expanses of time, they understood this and wisdom appeared.”
The eighth verse and the last, sums up all of the above. We were here, and we will remember humanity, our family, many epochs ago. Very touching words, together with electronic music and the rock component of the group’s style, creates a modern wipe that fits our reality.
As Chino Moreno himself said, “The six songs that people are hearing now are just a scratch on the surface of the huge collection that we are working on.” So, we are waiting for new albums and hope for their soon release!
