Pursuit of Honor (album)

Pursuit of Honor is the debut studio album by American extreme metal band Battlecross. The album was released on August 2, 2011 via Metal Blade Records.

Pursuit of Honor
Studio album by Battlecross
Released	August 2, 2011
Recorded	2011 at Random Awesome Recording Studio in Bay City, Michigan
Genre	Melodic death metal, thrash metal
Length	36:27
Label	Metal Blade Records
Producer	Josh Schroeder
Battlecross chronology
Push Pull Destroy (2010) Pursuit of Honor (2011) War of Will (2013)

Production

In 2010, Battlecross self-released their debut album Push Pull Destroy.[1] In late 2010, the band caught the eye of Metal Blade Records while members were replacing their vocalist, Marshall Wood. The band tapped Kyle "Gumby" Gunther of the Flint, MI-area band and management roster mate, I Decay, to front the band. Gunther stepped in to re-record the album and rewrote the track Aiden, renaming it Kaleb after his newborn son. The re-recorded album, Pursuit of Honor, was released in August 2011 by Metal Blade Records[2] and was recorded at Random Awesome Recording Studio in Bay City, Michigan and produced by Josh Schroeder.[3][4]

Critical reception

Pursuit of Honor produced three singles. ‘Push Pull Destroy,’ ‘Man of Stone’ and ‘Breaking You,’ which combined, spent 50 weeks on SiriusXM Liquid Metal ‘Devil’s Dozen’ list of most requested songs,[5] with ‘Push Pull Destroy’ at the #1 spot for five weeks in Spring 2012.[6] The accompanying video has racked up more than 1.8 million views on YouTube,[7][8] and was the break-out track for the band.[9]

Pursuit of Honor received accolades from music reviewers from across the globe. In many reviews, the album referenced the band's promise to rival the Big Four of Metal and perhaps one of the best albums on the modern thrash metal scene.[10] The band and the debut also drew comparisons to metal groove heavy-weights Pantera and Lamb of God, with Metal Assault naming the record "one of the most 'complete' heavy metal albums in recent times" and "bristling with fist-pumping, face-melting heavy metal at its finest."[11]

Oft-critical website Blabbermouth reviewed the album as "easily one of the better metal debuts of 2011," stating that Pursuit of Honor will leave you breathless, maybe even skinless" and giving the album an '8' rating. The website described the album as "traditional thrash metal, but not in a retro wannabe sense, and is delivered in a package that is modern, yet avoids being too cookie-cutter; melodic, yet not "pretty" or cleanly sung. Death metal heaviness with compositional skill, "Pursuit of Honor" is above all else inanely energized."[12]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Pursuit of Honor"	0:38
2.	"Push Pull Destroy"	3:35
3.	"Kaleb"	3:39
4.	"Deception"	3:28
5.	"Man of Stone"	3:47
6.	"Breaking You"	3:55
7.	"Rupture"	3:49
8.	"Leech"	2:46
9.	"Better Off Dead"	4:10
10.	"Misery"	4:49
11.	"Foreshadowing"	1:41
Total length:		36:27

References

1. Battlecross Discography, Retrieved July 20, 2012.
2. Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Pursuit of Honor - Battlecross". AllMusic. Retrieved January 17, 2013.
3. BATTLECROSS, Retrieved July 20, 2012.
4. agony&ecstasy: BATTLECROSS: Pursuit Of Honor, Retrieved July 20, 2012
5. "BATTLECROSS to enter the studio next month! | Metal Blade Records". Metalblade.com. Retrieved 2013-08-15.
6. "Battlecross Invades the States with Five Finger Death Punch, Killswitch Engage and More". Music News Nashville. 2012-06-19. Archived from the original on 2013-12-05. Retrieved 2013-08-15.
7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miZLob1Hi4I
8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUplFIfo6Ko
9. "BATTLECROSS Parts Ways With Drummer, Recruits SIX FEET UNDER's KEVIN TALLEY". Blabbermouth.Net. Retrieved 2013-06-05.
10. Battlecross – Pursuit Of Honor [2011] « Valkyrian Music
11. Battlecross: Pursuit Of Honor (Album Review)
12. Blabbermouth.Net

External links

"Pursuit of Honor: Battlecross: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2013-08-26.