Die Kreuzen: Pink Flag/Land of Treason

 Die Kreuzen: Pink Flag/Land of Treason 7-inch

1990

Touch & Go Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Pink Flag  2. Land of Treason

I'm not especially familiar with this band...I remember reading a lot of reviews in old heavy metal magazines and as a result, Die Kreuzen had long been on my "to check out" list but I never really got around to it...Then one day I ran across a small pile of cheap Die Kreuzen 7-inches so I randomly grabbed a couple just to hear something different...

This is some mildly interesting stuff...I'd classify it as punk/metal but with a different metal-to-punk ratio than most bands of this ilk...To me, this is straight punk music with screeching heavy metal vocals...This isn't quite as apparent on the A-Side, which is pretty understated, straight-forward cover of Wire's trudging "Pink Flag...It just sounds like a slicker version with maybe a slightly metal-ish string-bend here and there, but near the end Dan Kubinski lets loose a Rob Halford style "WAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"  Still, if you can summon both Wire and Judas Priest in one song, then you're pretty much on my good side...

The B-Side however is much more perplexing...It's a cover of the Germs' proto-hardcore classic "Land of Treason" where again the instrumentation is faithful (blasting hardcore) but the vocalist gives the song the full Axl Rose treatment...I can't say I greatly enjoyed it, but I feel like it was important that I heard it, if that makes sense...If someone told me a hair-metal version of "Land of Treason" existed, I'd have to hear it, y'know?

Think of it as a curiosity and you might be somewhat entertained...As versions of "Pink Flag" or "Land of Treason" that you would choose over the original? Uhhh, no way...Ever!

Here's "Land of Treason" by Die Kreuzen