Sometimes all it takes is a little nudge or, in this case, a guest spot on an advance for a 2025 release that sounds nothing like the band we’re talking about today to really make you take a second look. Lost? Don’t worry, all will be revealed… now!
We’re not sure if it’s a spoiler or not so we won’t reveal the artist or song title but while doing our homework on an upcoming 2025 release for a local outfit we were pleasantly surprised to hear a particularly BRUTAL guest spot from Aversed’s Sarah Hartman which reminded us that we had fairly recently received a press release regarding the Boston quintet’s upcoming new album and a single and video ahead of that… which may or may not have been sitting unwatched on one of the many, many, many , MANY open tabs on the RNRF work laptop.
But we’re revisiting now and that’s what really counts, right? As we said, “Cross To Bear” is the lead track off Aversed’s upcoming full-length Erasure of Color and it is a gargantuan preview of what’s to come. Right off the bat the riffage put forth by Sungwoo Jeong and Alden Marchand is eerily familiar of the coordinated chaos that Boston supergroup Old Man Gloom does so well (Go listen to “Hot Salvation” off Seminar II and tell us we’re wrong!) before veering off into something completely different to match the intensity that Hartman enacts vocally both in the heavier and broader passages. Speaking of Hartman, the diverse vocalist delivers on all fronts alongside the dense rhythm section attack from bassist Martin Epstein and drummer Jeff Saltzman to navigate the ever changing sonic seas that have elements of Black Metal, Symphonic Metal, and Goth Metal incorporated into Aversed brand of the main genre we all love: Metal!
“Cross To Bear” is out now through M-Theory Audio and you can get your copy when you click here or on the stream below. For all your pre-order/pre-save needs regarding the upcoming Erasure of Color full-length (Arriving on March 21st with digital editions dropping on January 1st), head here. For more from Aversed, including upcoming live shows like their last one of the year on December 28th headlining Fete Music Hall in Providence with Pathogenic, Edjinn, and Matriphagy (Get tix for that one here) head here or here.