UMUR
"Patronizing the Heterodox" is the debut full-length studio album by Belgian thrash/crossover act X-Creta. The album was released through Punk Etc. in 1986. X-Creta was a relatively shortlived act, who formed in 1983 and released a couple of demos and this debut album before disbanding. "Patronizing the Heterodox" was released in a very limited number of copies. Some featuring a green version of the cover artwork and some featuring a red version of the cover artwork. The album has as far as I know not yet been released on CD.
Stylistically the music on "Patronizing the Heterodox" is a raw, stripped down, and energetic type of crossover thrash/speed metal, not far removed from the early releases by Voivod. The vocals are pretty raw and not far from black metal vocal territory and sometimes when the music is most punk oriented, it can almost be described as blackened punk. The tracks are generally short and to the point, but X-Creta have a few tricks up their sleeves to keep the 26:47 minutes long album entertaining throughout.
The sound production is pretty well sounding for the time, and the musicianship relatively tight. It´s the furious energy and aggressive punk/hardcore beats that´s the greatest asset here though and "Patronizing the Heterodox" is overall definitely a worthwhile release. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.