Give Blood's inside cover includes a quote that, rather surprisingly, wonderfully encapsulates the essence of Bane. It says, "The most abstract of all art forms, music has almost no limit to its expressiveness. Its elements are simple: rhythm, melody and harmony. But the variations made with these elements are endless." These words are not exactly the sort of statement you'd expect to find in the liner notes of a hardcore album -- but then again, Bane has never been a typical hardcore band.
Bane began life as a Converge side-project, but soon after its formation the group forged its own unique identity. Constant touring earned them a reputation as an unpredictable, must-see live act. In the process, kids from Missoula to Mesa fell in love with their thunderous blend of hardcore aesthetics and pure punk fury.
The Massachusetts-based group’s much anticipated follow-up to 1999’s It All Comes Down to This is brimming with a ravenous energy that is as infectious as it is devastating. In just over 25 minutes, the group tears through ten hardcore anthems that drill their way into your skull and stay there for days on end. Bane's members may be young and full of zest, but time wasters they most certainly are not -- and they prove this right off the bat, as the barbarous one-two punch of "Speechless" and "Some Came Running" hits the listener like a ball peen hammer to the skull. From that point onward, it’s a blistering race to the finish, as the remaining songs are dispatched in breakneck fashion. One after another, they hit you; "Snakes Among Us", "Ante Up" and "Sunflowers and Sunsets" fuse politically-charged lyrics, scorching riffs and rock solid rhythms into two-minute chunks of head-splitting hardcore mayhem. Then, in a flash of feedback and screaming, the final chords of "Ali v. Frazier I" dissipate and it’s all over.
There have been many strong hardcore albums released this year, but only a select few (Converge’s Jane Doe, for one) have equaled or topped Give Blood’s sheer intensity and visceral thrills. Bane is the real deal, and you'd be a damn fool to let this example of their tireless devotion to "the most abstract of all art forms" slip through your fingers.
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