Dealt A Cruel Hand

I can count the number of cool bands to come from my home state of Maine on one (cruel?) hand. Outbreak, Wake Up Call, and Cruel Hand. Are there any others? Some of the dudes from American Nightmare were from Maine, but they were more of a Boston band. I remember catching Cruel Hand 5 years ago at the Have Heart record release show for the End Of Summer Jam. I didn't think too much of them at the time, but they have sure worked themselves into a powerful hardcore force. Bridge Nine recently put up pre-orders for the band's third release, Lock & Key. I had heard mixed reviews on the album, but I still went ahead and ordered the package deal simply because I love the cover art on this LP. It took a few listens for this to grow on me, and while I don't think it is as good as Prying Eyes, this is still a solid record. White vinyl was limited to the package deal.

In addition to a Cruel Hand t-shirt, the package deal came with a screened print of the album art. Definitely frame worthy for my music room.

I'm not sure how many were made, but mine was numbered 76.

While I was ordering the LP, I figured that I'd pick up a copy of the Cruel Hand single as well. I would have still picked up the record release pressing of this 7 inch, but at the time I had completely forgotten that I'd ordered this. Clear vinyl, but I'm not sure if there were 500 pressed of this, plus 500 on green, for a total of 1,000, or if there were 1,000 pressed of each. Cool record with a bonus track that isn't on the LP.