DEAD CROSS, the Southern California outfit featuring drummer Dave Lombardo (ex-SLAYER, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, MISFITS) and singer Mike Patton (FAITH NO MORE), played snippets of cover versions of SLAYER classics "South Of Heaven" and "Raining Blood" during its concerts in Las Vegas, Nevaada (August 11) and Houston, Texas (August 15), respectively. Check out video footage below. Lombardo was effectively fired from SLAYER after sitting out the band's Australian tour in February/March 2013 due to a contract dispute with the other members of the group. He has since been replaced by Paul Bostaph, who was previously SLAYER's drummer from 1992 until 2001. The self-titled debut album from DEAD CROSS, which is rounded out by bassist Justin Pearson (THE LOCUST, RETOX, HEAD WOUND CITY) and guitarist Michael Crain (RETOX, FESTIVAL OF DEAD DEER), was released on August 4 via Ipecac Recordings. The effort was helmed by producer Ross Robinson, who has previously worked with KORN, DEFTONES, SEPULTURA and LIMP BIZKIT, among others, and was mastered at Golden Mastering in Ventura, California. Patton told Rolling Stone that he got involved with DEAD CROSS after reaching out to Lombardo to see if he could release the band's album on Ipecac. After getting a text from the drummer asking him to join the group, "my jaw dropped," the singer said. "I was like, 'Who, me? Hmm …' And I think it took like all of 30 seconds, but in a sarcastic way, I'm like, 'Yeah, of course. I can do this. Are you sure you want me?' So I kind of second-guessed him a little bit. And he said, 'Man, you'd be our dream vocalist.' And then it was just a matter of logistics. I decided to record it here in my basement, which is fitting. It shouldn't sound too polished." Regarding DEAD CROSS's musical direction, Patton said: "To me, it is a traditional hardcore record. It is very pointed, direct and visceral. Like, I wasn't going to play keyboards, add samples or any kind of orchestration. It was like, 'Yo, just go for it.' In some ways, it reminded me of stuff that we had collectively all grown up with and loved when we were like teenagers — bands like the ACCÜSED, DEEP WOUND or SIEGE, stuff that was just brutal, uncompromising and right to the point. I was listening to all those bands again before this came to be, so it was already back infused in my blood. And now I got a chance to do a pencil-in-your-eye record."
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