Getting new discs from bands that you adore is like a small scale lottery win. BANE bring in the payload though. I could probably speak at length on why BANE are so darn good, but honestly, I don’t need to – their music does the talking. “Give Blood” is their second full length, with their last being the epic “It All Comes Down to This.” I don’t think anyone doubts the absolute tremendousness of their last one, but it had some glaring faults, namely the odd production qualities of sounding somewhat incoherent. But with these boys returning to the guidance of Brian McTernan, that quip was quietly taken care of and BANE unleashes their new disc with a rage that so few bands naturally possess. So many bands in hardcore try to sound angry, or intimidating, or whatever, but so much of it sounds postured and propped up by tentative ideals – BANE are the real thing 100% of the time. “Give Blood” is only 26 minutes long from start to finish, but each of the 10 songs hits you like an airborne canoe. Aaron Bedard’s cutting lyrics ring true on so many instances, you can’t help but a see a small reflection of your life in his visions. I’m moved, honestly, and that doesn’t come easily anymore. BANE aren’t really youth crew, but their style of hardcore is certainly an outgrowth from the sXe legends of years past. What makes their music leap out at you though is the stunning measure of tightness and machine like precision of the rhythm section. You can easily visualize how hard Nick is hitting those drums. I don’t know how Aaron records his vocals in the studio, but I can’t help but think he’s locked up in some room with a mic strapped to this chin, and he’s running around like mad, leaping off of anything he can find. At least that’s what happens to me when I listen to this (minus the mic strapped to the chin). Although hardcore is not an exclusive movement, Aaron’s venting on “Snakes Among Us,” is pointed at those who choose to take advantage of our collective hardcore scenes, essentially turning them into the cliques we’ve tried to shy away from for so long. On “Sunflowers and Sunsets” Bedard questions his very purpose in life, and is satisfied in just knowing that he exists and chooses to control what he can in his life. I don’t know Aaron, but after reading every bit of lyric on “Give Blood,” I wish I did. I feel that I can connect in the same manner, and I can’t think of one other band that translates their music into such channels with the same degree of passion and intensity. Whereas “It All Comes down to This,” seemed almost overloaded in timing changes, metallic pushes, and references to fire, “Give Blood,” is much more direct and forceful. The songs are far more fluid, and just as lendable to singing along (though not quite like the monumental “Can We Start Again?”). As expected, the packaging is visually stunning, containing an odd foldout configuration and loads of bane pictures and tour memorabilia in the liner notes. I don’t know what else there is say. This disc is so much a part of me lately, and I can only hope that others find solace in this record like I can and that BANE understands that whey they ask, “do you believe,” there are 21 year old kids like me who are sitting in their bedrooms screaming back, “I do!!!!”

Equal Vision

www.equalvision.com