Following the demise of '90s straight edge heroes By the Grace of God, vocalist Rob Pennington and drummer Thommy Browne decided to start a new chapter in 2001 with the Louisville, Kentucky-based Black Widows. But after drafting brothers Ryan (guitar) and Evan Patterson (bass) from National Acrobat, and releasing 2002's Stops a Beating Heart E.P., they were forced to drop their name and thus Black Cross was born. Their first effort as such, 2003's Art Offensive, carried on with their established hardcore direction, and the following year's Widows Bloody Widows collected whatever songs were left from their Black Widows' days, and introduced new drummer Sean Johnson, to boot. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia