ION INDIE MAGAZINE October 2015, Volume 17 | Page 74

Music by
BATTLECROSS
“Not Your Slave”

Story by Mark Uricheck
You simply can’t beat word-of-mouth bands. You know, those standout acts that catch your ear at a show-perhaps as an opener--that make your jaw hit the floor and run out and testify.
Michigan’s BATTLECROSS is one such band.
With their earliest origins dating back to 2003, Canton, Michigan friends--guitarists TONY ASTA and HIRAN
DERANIYAGALA--would form what is now Battlecross. From the release of their METAL BLADE RECORDS
debut “Pursuit of Honor” in 2011 (a re-recording of their self-released debut “Push Pull Destroy” of a year
earlier), to their brand-new Metal Blade offering in their third album, “Rise To Power”, the band has toured
with some of the hardest working road dogs in Metal—CROWBAR, GWAR, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH--and
even earned a coveted slot at METALLICA’S 2013 “Orion Music Festival” RION MUSIC FESTIVAL”. Each time
out, they’ve proven themselves worthy, and have consistently won over new fans with every show.
“It’s one of those things where we just go out and do what we do,” explained Deraniyagala to ION by phone
recently from a tour stop in Western Pennsylvania. “I think what people pick up on is that energy that we
have onstage--I think they really connect with that. I’ve heard a lot of people say, ‘I’m really not into Metal,