IRON CROSS - AVAILABLE AT CDBABY.COM & iTunes

CD REVIEWS:.................................................... ..............FROM: METAL-TREASURES.COM.........Vinyl collectors know about the rare ”Church And State “ LP. Finally, on time for the 20 year jubilee, the Chicago-Thrashers take pity and heave this classic piece fully remastered, fortified with three bonus tracks in CD format under the people. Now, finally, Thrash fans may pursue how the musicians never lose themselves with high speed in the chaos, they always concentrates to change the speed. Besides, Jon Wiegand refines the material with his smoky vocals, there’s no roar or grunt here. Now and again memories appear over and over again to the first FLOTSAM & JETSAM record. Proof enough for the class of IRON CROSS. All Thrash-Heads which have done a curve up to now for some obscure reasons around IRON CROSS should be said: Here you have the ideal entrance in the creating for a long time forgotten Underground pearl which is done very well too. Buy!!! (Charly Kogler / 2008) ............................................................ ................................From MetalCovenant.com.......AUTHOR: Michael the Mettle Angel.........RATING: 7.5/10...............Home Sweet Hell, Chicago based deathrash icons: Iron Cross have reissued Church And State as a remastered 20th Anniversary version, including three bonus tracks taken from their '86 Demo. This reissue includes lyrics for the original tracks, as well as band photos. Bringing bad tidings, and caustic chills of terror; these fallen angels, like so many other windy city brimming broods, mixed the intensity of Dark Angel & Possessed, with the authenticity of Metal Church & Overkill.Iron Cross set the standard for that ominous, morose thrash; borrowing heavily from Venom, Celtic Frost, and Motörhead. Other promising cult dwellers from Chicago, like Sindrome, Devastation, & Abomination, took the reins from them, and naturally set the precedent for Usurper, Master, & Death Strike to carry the torch, blazing into the 90's. Meanwhile Detroit's Coven, and Pittsburgh's Dream Death & Doomwatch were also fashioning this new gloaming, macabre method. As I was a fan of New Renaissance bands in the mid 80's, I first discovered Dream Death, and then Indestroy, so when I listen to Iron Cross, after all of these years; I cannot help but make these comparisons.What's fascinating about Iron Cross, is they still have a strong, Classic Metal quality to them. Although, definitely not in the vein of the Florida Death sound, save maybe Xecutioner (Pre-Obituary). I definitely hear that Morrisound vibe; especially for Nasty Savage. I would argue that the Metal Knights' own unique Wage Of Mayhem inspired the Merciless Knights' Wages Of Sin. Just listen to Beware The Innocent, and you will hear The Morgue.Another band whom Iron Cross resemble is the Knights of Old Bridge, New Jersey, themselves - Blessed Death. Although, Jon Wiegand does not have that staccato shrill, or mordent mirror shattering cadence of Larry Portelli; but he does reach some high octane wails; especially, on Under Attack, Home Sweet Hell, M.I.A., & Minutes To Pray. I would also suggest that Arizona's own St. Madness took their cue from Iron Cross.The Classic Metal Band Ironcross from Finland, who just remastered their first two CDs: Bloodhounds & Steel Warrior on Kathargo Records, clearly did not influence these Illinois makers of maelstrom; but the iron cross, itself was a strong image in 80's metal. Even Nuclear Assault had a song about this on The Plague EP.In this game of fools of so many makeshift thrash pretenders to the throne, now swarming like a bad locust uprising; sullying the scene; it is so refreshing to hear that a band like Iron Cross are active, and ready to reinstate the real church of fatal will; leaving the poseurs with minutes to pray!....................................................... .......................................................... Best of the 80s Underground! (from CDBABY.com) 5 stars! author: Ron Dake Back when this was on vinyl, there wasn't any Thrasher in Chicago who didn't have this release spinning on their turntables regularly! Now that it's available once again in CD format, I trust all of their original fans will be itching to buy this up, not only relive their youth, but to check out the bonus tracks they may have only experienced at live performances. Those who were unfortunately not exposed to Iron Cross back in their heyday are now able to get a taste of just how much talent was poured into the making of this album, and I believe they will also walk away with a much larger appreciation of where their favorite modern bands have been inspired.................................................... ............................................................ ......Ok, Ok. You're wondering why set up a page for a band that hasn't been around since 1989. Well, over the years, many people have asked about the band, both friends and others who have only heard of the name. I've heard from people overseas who have found and purchased our album, liked the music, but knew nothing of the band itself.This site is for those people. The people who perhaps want to re-visit a slice of their youth and some of the music they enjoyed. Hell, maybe we can even get a few more new people to enjoy our music. Could something new be in the works? Time will tell. Tell us what you think.Please do not confuse us with two other known Iron Cross bands (one from Florida and another one a punk band from I believe the east coast). I guess you might consider us the 'Illinois Chapter' of Iron Cross. Enjoy the site. Thanks. Rob Wilhelm - IRON CROSS.BIOIron Cross was formed in December of 1982. The founding members were Rick Stang (guitar), Lionel Hubbard (guitar) Dave Martin (bass) and Dennis Green (drums). In March of 1983, Jon Wiegand (vocals) joined the band. In August of 1983 after the depature of Dave Martin, Rob Wilhelm (bass) joined the ranks of Iron Cross.Iron Cross played the Chicago club circuit and recorded various demo's over the next year. In late 1984, Lionel Hubbard left the band to pursue other musical directions. Both Jon and Dennis took some time off as well. During this 'hiatus', both Rick and Rob started jamming with Bill Schmidt (drums) of Master. Master was also taking a bit of a break at the time. This temporary union proved to be very influencial in the future course of Iron Cross' musical material.In August of 1985, both Jon and Dennis re-joined the band. also, at the same time, Mike Antablian (guitar) joined the ranks.This was probably the most creative period and line-up for Iron Cross. Many of the songs for their album "Church and State" were written in the immediate months following this regrouping.In October of 1985, Iron Cross went to Seagrape Studios in Chicago to record another demo tape. This was a "live" recording, no overdubs. It included the songs "Fallen Angel", "Tooth and Nail", "Merciless Knights", "Wage of Sin", "Children Must Play" and a cover of the Suicidal Tendencies song "I Shot the Devil".'Merciless Knights' was released to local radio station WVVX for airplay. It immediately became a heavily requested song on that station.Iron Cross continued to play the local Chicago club circuit for the next year when they decided it was time to record an album. Not wanting to wait around for a "label" to pick them up, Iron Cross took things into their own hands; they started their own record company (Turmoil Records) to release their album under.In addition to funding the album themselves, Iron Cross (with the help of Producer/Seagrape co-owner Mike Konopka) decided to try and seek investors to help fund the project. They had set out to write a 22 page investment prospectus/contract and shop it around to anyone who would listen.In February of 1987, Rob Wilhelm was working on the prospectus when a reporter for a local neighborhood newspaper had come in for a scheduled interview with the owners of Seagrape Studios. While the reporter was waiting for the interview, she had asked Rob what he was doing. Rob explained to her the project and the idea of trying to secure investors. That ended up being in the article for the paper.Shortly after that initial article was published, Iron Cross was contacted by the Chicago Tribune for an interview on their interesting way to fund an album. Shortly after that article was published, Iron Cross was contacted by the Associated Press (AP) and United Press International (UPI) for additional interviews on the project. Again, shortly after those articles ran in newspapers nationwide, Iron Cross was contacted by CNN for an interview which ended up being seen by people all over the world who had access to cable/satellite t.v.With all the recent attention, the band was able to secure funding for the album with the help of several investors.On November 8th (election day in the U.S.) Iron Cross' debut album "Church and State" was released. Because of still somewhat limited funding, only about 2,500 vinyl albums and 1,000 cassettes were released to various "key" markets. The albums sold well and things were looking good for the band.In the summer of 1988, Mike Antablian had decided to leave the band. He was replaced by guitarist Dave Szyszko. Several months after the album release, Jon Wiegand had decided to leave the band due to personal reasons, followed shortly thereafter by Dennis Green. Adequate replacement members were not found and the band played their last live show (with a different singer and drummer) July 1st of 1989.Over the last 20 years, all of the members had remained friends and in contact and on rare occasions, have gotten together to jam the old tunes. To be continued.............(in blogs)
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