Reviewed by Matt Anderson

As the Christian heavy metal scene has diminished to a tedium in the second half of the '90s. When reviewing any new release the listener must he reminded to sympathise with the present lull in popularity and the understandable reduction in quality. However, tentative lyrics and tediously overworked melodies are not helping the old school Christian head banger support the continuing cause. This release dome's 'Living To Die" has six tracks, one of which is an instrumental. Most of the songs on the recording sound faintly like Mad At The World or One Bail Pig, but without the same songwriting qualities or catchiness. And although there are slight similarities Cronic have a quite undefinable style. It verges being on the edge of both speed metal and on punk rock, yet fails lo circumscribe a convincing style of its own. Only over experience and time will Cronic's songwriting abilities improve and during that time they will most likely develop a distinct sound of their own. Bui al present they sound rough on the edges and unfortunately unoriginal. Of all the songs, the most noteworthy are "I Feel The Warmth" and "We Die Young". Both are comparatively well written, with good guitar riffs and ameliorative lyrics. The chorus. "I see you come undone/I feel the warmth of the Son," from 'I Feel The Warmth', is the high point of the entire album. Apart from the odd moment, there was unfortunately nothing really impressive about Cronic.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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