Jesus Wept are death metal through and through, but they draw from a different set of influences than many of their peers, taking most of their cues from Heartwork, Swansong and ’80s heavy metal. It’s immediately clear from the start of “Buried Face Down,” the first track on their forthcoming Apartheid Redux album—which remixes the four songs on their first EP and adds two originals, plus a WASP cover—that the band have patiently studied the riffcraft of Bill Steer and Michael Amott.
As the late August release date for their expanded EP draws closer, the band have shared “Fucked on the Cross,” the second new track on the release. It’s properly blasphemous, viewing the act of crucifixion in a sexual light and even fitting in a few well-placed moans, but it’s Jesus Wept’s ear for melodic death metal that stands out. Employing surgically-precise grooves, a shredding solo and barked vocals, “Fucked on the Cross” is a killer track that culls all of the fat in favor of constant riffs interrupted only for a solo and creepy interlude.
“The title alone is pretty self-explanatory—a literal take on the idea of religion being bondage,” Jesus Wept explain of the song’s meaning. “In artistic representations of the crucifixion, its sexual elements are often de-emphasized. This describes an individual enthusiastically embracing those elements in pursuit of their own pleasure.”
“Fucked on the Cross” is streaming below; to hear the rest of Apartheid Redux, pre-order it via Redefining Darkness.
