ALBUM REVIEW: Demo 2015 by Bind

It's not often that (for lack of better words) a plain old hardcore band's debut demo catches my eye (or ear) these days. Something other than the relentless swarm of wannabe 90's NYHC bands, or cookie cutter breakdown-oriented hardcore with rapcore breakdowns. Ones that are actually refreshing and are quite literally “hard.” As I get closer to hitting 30 and that inevitable bitter and jaded milestone, it becomes even more difficult to impress me nay persuade me to keep a measley demo on my iphone. I'll upload a bunch of stuff I want to check out onto my Iphone for when I'm travelling or working out..And a good portion of the time, I'll just be bored stiff of it. This was surprisingly not the case with Florida's own Bind and their aptly titled “2015 demo.”

First off, killer album/demo artwork boys. Taken from Frank Miller's beautifully dark noir graphic novel series (and one of my personal favorites) Sin City, it is a still of Dwight pointing a gun at the audience. Moving on, I was half expecting another boring Bridge Nine or Reaper Records band that literally didn't offer much out of the ordinary hardcore palette of late. But I was wrong. The demo starts off with a distorted hard hitting snare drum buildup quite reminiscent of Merrimack Valley hardcore bands such as Guns Up!, Revenge, Swamps, or even Rude Awakening so it right away caught my attention. Then venturing into heavier guitars ring in slowly, bass line, yada yada yada. But not so much that I was bored stiff. What came next though was the real hook, line, and sinker as it were. As I said, I was half expecting to hear some high pitched Freddie Madball wanna be voice or some sort of knockoff beatdown/tough guy riff. But surprisingly what I heard, was a deeper/heavier, raw, and in your face vocals. Reminding me of a lot of Troycore bands I grew up on (Stigmata, Dying Breed, Politics of Contraband, etc.) and that was a shot of fresh air. NOTE: I recognize and apologize that I keep comparing other bands but I do what I can with what I got.

In conclusion, while clocking in at under ten minutes, it was the first time in a long time that a plain old hardcore demo didn't have me twiddling my thumbs.. For reference, Downpresser's Don't Need A Reason had it's hard hitting moments for sure...But overall I only cared about maybe 3/10 tracks.. The standout aside from the opening track on Bind's debut was definitely “Hands of the Priest” which I just refer to as the American Psycho song, as it contains 2 different quotes from the Christian Bale 2002 flick. One even foreshadowing a punishing breakdown. I also recently found out that they're coincidentally going to be playing Amityville Music Hall in early December with my Georgia metalcore buddies Vatican which you should all hit up. You can even see the flier posted below. You should check that shit out as well, cause that's a sick lineup chock full of friends bands and heavy fucking music. That's all for now. Slainte.

- SBG