The New York City-based punk band Cro-Mags have announced a new studio album titled In The Beginning, which is set to be released on June 19th via Arising Empire and Mission Two Entertainment. The group have also debuted a new track from the project titled “The Final Test,” which can be downloaded for free here.
“The Final Test” is a hard hitting and quick punk track with aggressive drums and quick riffs powering through a majority of the instrumental. The band’s Harley Flanagan gives some cryptic vocals during the track, with an errie delivery which is sure to send shiver’s down the listeners spine.
The Cro-Mags have a long history,hailing from New York City’s Lower East Side in the year 1981, where Flanagan recorded some of the group’s early four-track demos. Their music is known for pulling from a variety of styles from thrash, metal and punk, making them one of the bands that stand out in the hardcore scene due to their eclectic influences and large cult following.
Their most recent EP From the Grave and its predecessor Don’t Give In, served as the group’s first pieces of new material since 2000. This upcoming project will also be the first full-fledged studio album released by the band in two decades.
“It’s only three tracks, but From the Grave is still a solid way for Cro-Mags to end the decade,” mxdwn reviewer Cervante Pope explained. “They tried some new things with ‘Between Wars’ which, for some, maybe a little too strange to swallow, but it honestly shows that the band isn’t afraid to experiment outside of their usually reliable output. From the Grave is still enough of the tough we need from them.”