Cruel Hand Tour Press 2014

It seems like I rarely get out for shows these days. Time and money tend to be an obstacle each time. Those are legitimate excuses, right? It can't be that I'm getting old and lazy, and would rather just stay in. With Cruel Hand playing literally five minutes from my house, I figured that it would be pretty pathetic if I didn't get out for that show.

Once I got there, my first stop was the merch table. They had a tour press of their new record, Born Into Debt, and I quickly grabbed a copy.

It isn't what I'd expect from Cruel Hand, but I'm digging the cover.

Things got a little out of hand for Rude Awakening's set. I was standing back while they were playing, and I could see things on the dance floor getting more and more intense...I kept waiting for something to boil over, and sure enough it did. Soon there was a mass of people throwing punches, and the crowd took the fight into the parking lot. I'm sure it didn't end well for whoever was on the receiving end of it all. Whether it was deserved or not, I can't stand testosterone fueled shit like that.

Thankfully, relative order was restored for Cruel Hand's set. Man, they were fun to watch...one of the best times I've had watching them play.

It was cool to have Chris and Nate come over after their set to hang out and talk. Such great dudes.

Cruel Hand also had some promo "Heat" matchbooks at their merch table. I love cool little things like this, and since they were free, I grabbed a couple.

Born With A Cruel Hand

I picked up the Vigilant Citizen 7 inch earlier this year from Cruel Hand. It was only two songs, but damn, it was so solid that it left me wanting more. I was recently at a local DNA show in Portland, and noticed that Nate from Cruel Hand was the drummer for them. There are only a couple of drummers that command my attention as they are playing live...DFJ from The Rival Mob is one of them, and Nate is another. Both of those dudes just attack that kit. Anyway, the other thing that caught my attention with Nate is that he was wearing a Savatage shirt. I love that band, and after the show I had to catch him and let him know how great I thought that his shirt was. The guy was all smiles as he told me that he picked up the shirt when Cruel Hand was touring Japan, and he engaged me in a 15 minute conversation about Savatage and collecting original pressing for Metal records. It was a great conversation, and somewhere along the line we got to talking about Cruel Hand...I was asking what else the band was working on, and he let me know about a 7 inch that was due to be released from Closed Casket.

The next morning, the first thing that I did when I turned on the computer was check for that new Cruel Hand record. Sure enough, they were available to order and I grabbed a couple copies.

250 pressed on blue with orange splatter.

While the vinyl itself isn't much to look at, the songs are great. Two originals, and one cover. Pretty bad ass.

500 pressed on "metallic gold with black haze".

Vigilant Cruel Hand

Cruel Hand decided to jump ship from Bridge Nine a while back. The band had released two solid albums on the label, so I was kind of surprised when I heard that they were moving on. Maybe it was the string of of shitty New Found Glory and Lemuria records, and they didn't feel it was a good fit anymore...who knows? I was under the impression that the band was going to release their next record themselves, so it was a pleasant surprise when Triple B put up the latest preorder for their new 7 inch.

Given how great the art work was for the last two Cruel Hand albums, the cover for the Vigilant Citizen 7 inch has me thinking, "What the fuck is that?". Is that a collection of doodles from the margins of someone's High School notebook? Weird.

Just one I told myself, I don't need multiple copies, so when preorders went up, just one was all I bought. Black and white swirl (grey) colored vinyl was the more limited pressing at 300, so I was content to just grab that one.

Now typically, it takes me some time to warm up to Cruel Hand release, but with these two songs I was immediately loving them. Total ragers. When Cruel Hand posted on Facebook that they were selling some copies on white vinyl in their store, I couldn't resist buying a second copy.

The white vinyl that I got from Cruel Hand had a stamp on the dust sleeve. I'm going to have to assume that all 700 of the regular white vinyl press did not have this stamp, and that it was limited to the ones the band was selling.

Second Look For Prying Eyes

I don't actively collect Cruel Hand records, but every once in a while I grab one from Bridge Nine if they are in stock. I'm not sure why I feel the need to buy them if I'm not working towards a complete collection...it is just something that I do.

To be honest, I was surprised to see Cruel Hand's second album, Prying Eyes, get a second pressing. Cruel Hand vinyl doesn't seem to fly off the shelf...of the three colors pressed for the 2010 album, Lock & Key, Bridge Nine still has two colors available. Because of this, I didn't expect to see another pressing of Prying Eyes so soon. The vinyl looked good, so I figured what the hell, and I bought another copy. Of course, now I feel incomplete since I don't own the purple vinyl from the first press...no...wait...I said I'm NOT actively collecting Cruel Hand vinyl. Fuck.

This is listed as orange with teal swirl, but it looks more like an orange with yellow. Either way, that is a sweet looking color.

Bridge Nine Mystery Box 2012

The Bridge Nine Mystery Box. The possibility of getting a rare piece of vinyl, or getting a box full of shit that you could care less about. Each year Bridge Nine has upped the ante, and this year they had the hype machine running at full power. The label was posting pictures on Facebook of all the cool t-shirts, rare vinyl, and test pressings that were going to be included in some lucky Mystery Boxes...it was enough to make some kids order multiple boxes.

My box came up short on any rare items, but still, for $15 I'm not complaining. I'll wear the Soul Control shirt, and sell the CDs that I have no use for to my local record store.

Bridge Nine offers up three choices for the Mystery Box, and the only one that had any interest for me was the one for Cruel Hand. Three songs from last years Sound & Fury set, pressed to a 7 inch. Limited to 500.

The note included with the record mentions a new Cruel Hand LP later this year. Looking forward to it.

The only other thing of any interest from my Mystery Box was the second Bridge Nine pressing of the Antidote 7 inch.

1,000 pressed on clear vinyl.

Stay Cruel

I remember when Cruel Hand's Lock & Key album was released a little over a year ago. Meh, it was okay, but not nearly as good as the Prying Eyes LP. Time has improved my perception of this album. Listening to Lock & Key these days, I can't help but be impressed with how great this album is. HARDcore.

I picked up my second copy of this LP when Bridge Nine was having a Black Friday sale. Cruel Hand albums were on sale for $6.00, so I grabbed the sea foam green pressing (limited to 700). In hindsight, I should have picked up the grey vinyl as well to complete my Lock & Key collection.

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.

Cruel Is King

Last night, I hit up the local Cruel Hand show with Rob and Paul. The last time that I had seen them was at the final Have Heart show, and the band really impressed me live. This show was about 20 minutes from my house, so I figured that I'd go check it out. I had never heard of any of the other bands on the bill, and walked into the Deering Grange Hall with pretty low expectations. Sure enough those expectations were met. Bad set of bands, and it was accompanied by some of the worst moshing that I have ever seen, as the pit was full of windmill spins and donkey kicks. The band on stage would be playing some slow doom riff, and yet kids were still thrashing around full tilt, like Exodus was launching into The Toxic Waltz. Total retardation. Of all the opening bands, the only one I held the slightest interest in was War Animal. The singer looked like a Lemmy clone, and wore a bullet belt. As they set up, I turned to Rob and said, "Well, this looks promising". Too bad that the sound system turned their sound into a blur and other than the occasional cool riff, I couldn't hear much of their sound. Cruel Hand played a good set, with a few songs off their album Lock & Key, that will be out next month. Seemed like their set was short, but the band sounded tight. Man, they must have one of the best drummers in hardcore...that guy just kills it every time I see them.

On the way to the show, I joked with Rob and Paul about Cruel Hand having a special "Grange Hall" press. Turns out they did have a record release pressing for their new 7 inch single on Bridge Nine. This release comes with a special sleeve, with Maine's favorite author Stephen King rockin' the mic and sporting a Cruel Hand trucker cap.

When Rob was buying his copy of the record, the guy at the merch table dug into the box and handed him number 12. Numbers 4 and 5 were on display at the merch table, and I wanted number 4. I don't know why it matters, but I'm a geek and I like low numbers. I picked up number 4 and told him that I'd take one 7 inch...still he dipped into the box and pulled out a record for me to take...number 11. Damn it. I handed him my 10 dollar bill. He said that he needed to go get change, and as he stepped away, I set my number 11 on the table and took the number 4 that I wanted. Why did it matter? I have no idea.

I checked my number 4 copy on the way to the car, and found that there was an additional, crinkled and mangled cover included with the record. So I ended up with two release covers for this one...4 and 16.

Cruel Heart

One of my favorite bands currently on the Bridge Nine roster would have to be Cruel Hand. They have a new album coming out this summer, and I can only hope that it brings the same level of heaviness as their second album Prying Eyes. Picked up my second copy of this album recently. Purple and grey swirl colored vinyl. Limited to 1,300.

Songs To Scream At The Sun is not my favorite Have Heart album, but there is no denying how strong some of these songs are. Seriously, Pave Paradise, is just an amazing song about life on the road as a touring band. Lots of emotion and passion is wrapped up in these songs, and that alone earns my respect. Classic band. Picked up the newest pressing on clear blue vinyl. Limited to 1,000.