To be fair, I hate B-sides/ compilation / greatest hits albums. Usually you're stuck with crap that wasn't good enough to make it on regular CDs, and since the material is from all over, the production value varies lots (and this ANNOYS THE FUCK OUT OF ME). That being said, this album is a collection of unreleased material from Black Cross when they were still called Black Widows, hence the album title. THAT being said, this album rips. Completely knocks my socks off. The production stays fairly consistent throughout the entire album. Oops, I forgot to say what it sounds like.

Black Cross plays hardcore-punk in the way of Black Flag or a less technical version of modern day hardcore-punk heroes (at least in my opinion) Akimbo. It's simple, it's 4-8 chords per song, it's loud, it's fast, it's short (the longest song is 2:30). It's great. These are all old B-sides and the like, but the songs still flow together with even a little bit of overflow into the next song. And it will eat your face.

While this album totally rocks, it's hard to pick out the best songs. Since they're all so short, the album sort of just feels like a 24 minute, 21 second song with a lot of tempo changes. Which brings up another point. The reason that this band is able to captivate me so is the amount of tempo changes it has interwoven in their 1-2 minute songs. It's like being slapped with a fat herring (what's with all the fish references?) when you least expect it.

When it's all over, you want to listen to it more. And then another time. And then maybe listen to something else. But in a few more days, you'll listen to it again. And again. Definitely worth the purchase, and I know this CD has made me want to get their other stuff. Go listen to it. Do it. Or I'll slap you like a bitch. Because that's what Black Cross would have me do.