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Pandemic Outbreak are a Polish band who started as a sort of Crossover Thrash outfit back in 2014 before disbanding in 2019, only to reappear in 2020 with a new Death/Thrash sound (with a name like that, you boys picked a hell of a time to reform, didn't you?) I'm not familiar with their older output, so Skulls Beneath the Cross is my first impression of the band, and it is a very positive one at that.

The cornerstone of Skulls Beneath the Cross is L.A.'s Death Metal pioneers Sadistic Intent, but with more of a Thrash focus than that would imply. Now Sadistic Intent are one of my favorite Death Metal bands, so anyone trying to imitate them damn well better be good at it, and as it turns out, Pandemic Outbreak are very good at it. The songs may not have much identity, but they're all well-written onslaughts of brutal intensity highlighted by the well above-average rasps of growler Menzel that only slows down in places, but never truly lets up. Death/Thrash fans of any stripe will want to check this out immediately.