Cruel HandFrom the far corner of the US, from a little state called Maine comes Cruel Hand who play fast, pissed off modern day metallic hardcore similar to Down To Nothing, Guns Up!, Blacklisted, etc,. One of the claims to fame this band has is that they feature current members of Outbreak (Nate and Chris), which will be a main selling point no doubt.
This 10 song debut full length is only the bands second release after their demo, which they used to complete several east coast tours. Most of the songs end before the 2 minute mark, which is perfect for the fast to mid paced hardcore the band plays. For the most part they keep things moving along until they slow it up for a churning mid paced break. The vocals are snarling and really work well with the music.
I really enjoy the way these guys approach lyric writing. They don't really cover any new ground but they're better than most. For the most part the lyrics keep a certain rhythm about themselves. Check out the lyrics to "Severe Character Flaw":
"I'd trade the Earth for what it's worth. A corrupted bag of dirt. I'd rather live a life of hurt than fix a world that'll never work. Guilt's something we'll never feel. Maybe it's not real. Losing sleep is for the weak. We see the signs but we don't read. Ignorance is our bliss. No apologies for this mess. So now we rot. Momentum is locked. The end can't be stopped. So give all you've got."
No idea where this was recorded but I'm digging the overall tone. The guitar is just thick enough and puts to use a good sounding overdrive. Really superb placement of the vocals, they aren't too loud and they blend into the mix flawlessly. The bass tone is pretty vicious too, it's got just enough room to breath. Damn good drum tone too.For what ever reason I always dig green on black layouts. Why? I don't know. They just look so sweeeet! But yeah, you can't see it in the small album cover picture but the front cover has a death certificate contrasted into the black background. A simple but good tie into the title of the album. The layout of the booklet is three pages with the same color scheme as the rest with the middle page used to display a hard to see silhouetted band shot. The tray states, "Stay Cruel". I'll try.
Rating: 3.7/5Songs Worthy of Replay: Severe Character Flaw and Under The Ice
Synopsis: There are a lot of bands out there playing this style of hardcore these days. Simple fast metallic hardcore with lyrics full of spite and dismay (the lyrics are one of the upsides of this band for sure). But this band is pretty damn good and are worth listening to, however this isn't something that will garner too many replays because like I said, there's just so many bands similar to this. Check out some songs from their Myspace page and be the judge yourself: Click Here