Exclusive: Cruel Hand's New Track Is Comfort Food For Hardcore Kids

Cruel Hand occupy a cool, unusual spot in the hardcore pantheon. The band's music definitely represents the heavier, more crushing aspects of the genre that really bloomed and thrived in the mid-'90s through early 2000s. At the same time, the Maine quintet channel a lot of the wonky noise, vulnerability, and punk catchiness present in both the genre's early beginnings and its later incarnations in the late-'00s and early 2010s. In that way, Cruel Hand has always been a band where hardcore kids can reconnect to both sides of hardcore music -- both the haymaker and the reeling, bloody cry of the kid it connects with.

Cruel Hand's latest track, Never Be Whole off of their upcoming 7" from the band's own Cheap Life Records, embodies both of these parts of the band's sound. The song definitely kicks in with some big swinging riffs and barked lyrics that make you want to stomp around the pit. But the chorus goes in a more emotional direction, with clean vocals singing over some glimmering minor chords (don't worry, 'clean' here just means they're not harsh -- it's not soaring in a high register). The result is a hardcore song you feel like you already know deep down, even as it's fresh to your ears now.

Of the song's nutrition, vocalist Chris Linkovich says,"Some backstory on the track: We had recorded [Never Be Whole] with Dean Baltulonis in NH and been sitting on it for a few months. I ran into Jay Reason at the Hatebreed show in Connecticut last month and he convinced me that the upcoming tour with Knocked Loose would be a perfect time to release it and that he'd help me along the way. Half thinking we'd never pull it off because of deadlines we still were able to defy all vinyl turn around rules and within just a matter of a couple weeks had our finished 7 inch single: Never Be Whole on Cheap Life Records 001.

"Not only is it our first song in 3 years, its also the first release on our own label," adds Chris. "The track has the heavy riffing that we've never strayed from plus the infectious chorus's we've been known for in our latter releases. The track is Cruel Hand through and through and I think fits perfectly with the overall vibe of hardcore in 2019. The B side has a live version of Under The Ice from our album Without A Pulse. Available on our upcoming tour with a wide release later in the year."

Check out Never Be Whole below:

If you want to pick up the 7" in a sweaty daze after getting tenderized all night, catch Cruel Hand in Europe with Knocked Loose, Kublai Khan, and Caged Existence at one of the dates below:

May 2019

23 - Netherlands Haarlem @ Patronaat
24 - UK London @ Islington Academy
25 - UK Leeds @ Slam Dunk
26 - UK Hatfield @ Slam Dunk
27 - France Paris @ Gibus
28 - Germany Karlsruhe @ Stadtmitte
29 - Germany Berlin @ Cassiopeia
30 - Germany Leipzig @ Conne Island
31 - Belgium Antwerp @ Antwerp Metal Fest

June 2019

01 - Germany Köln @ Club Volta
02 - Germany München @ Feierwerk
03 - Switzerland Aarau @ Kiff

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