It’s fair to say at this point that the combination of the EDM and Hardcore genres has been pretty thoroughly explored, with plenty of fantastic examples available along with a magnitude more less than inspiring efforts also. Osaka’s CROSSFAITH remain an enduring example of how to do things right and their latest EP “SPECIES” is another memorable entry into the genre’s history books, albeit a fairly short one. Opening track “Digital Parasite” and follow-up “Endorphin” are both solid showcases of the band’s primary genres, with “Truth of Insanity” leaning much more towards the Metal end of the spectrum if all of that synthesizer nonsense isn’t to your liking. Fourth track “None Of Your Business” sees the band enlist the vocal talents of Osaka rapper Jin Dogg to mixed results for me personally before the EP closes with the melodic and very antehmic in style “Your Song”. With a few more tracks this could have been a very potent album in its own right but as it stands this release is all killer, with very little filler and almost 15 years into their career CROSSFAITH are still as intense as they’ve ever been.
