Lins Says

A good friend would support you when your band releases a new record. However, when Lins mentioned that his band, Tied Down, was releasing a split 7 inch with some band called Warwound, I kind of struggled to get interested. Sure, I jumped in a couple years back and grabbed the colored vinyl when the band released their first record... and yeah, that ended up being a really cool 7 inch... but I did not have the same reaction to last years split, and I'm sure that makes me a shitty friend.

There were a list of reasons for my indifference. First of all, it was only available on black vinyl, and without the immediate satisfaction of quickly ordering to get some limited colored vinyl, I was in no rush to pick up a copy. Second, the cover art for the Warwound side kind of put me off and it had me make assumptions that they would sound like some terrible Hatebreed influenced band. This leads me to my final point which is that there would only be three Tied Down songs, and spending the money for overseas shipping for just one 7 inch that contains about five minutes of music out of the band I wanted to hear...well, it just seemed like it wasn't worth the investment. Not only was I a shitty friend, but I was a cheap one as well.

When I finally saw a copy of that split 7 inch a year later from a US seller on Discogs for $5, I picked it up out of guilt.

Let's clear something up first. I was totally fucking wrong on Warwound. The two songs from them on this split are absolutely killer. Granted, one of them is a Sacrilege cover from '85 and the other was actually from a Warwound demo back in '83, but both of these songs rip. I had no idea that the Warwound history went back that far, and once again I'm proven wrong on my jaded judgements cast on a band that I don't know. I'm an idiot, and I obviously need to check out more from this band. Combine those Warwound songs with three vicious attacks from Tied Down, and this 7 inch is definitely worth the time. Such a great surprise.

Refuse To Be Tied Down

I'm not going to lie, I've had zero fucks to give when it comes to new hardcore records this year. I just haven't cared. I've been hanging out with a bunch of 80's metal records, and that's kind of all that I've wanted to listen to. Everything else can fuck off.

I met Lins years ago when he was doing his record collecting blog, and even though he stopped blogging about seven years ago, we still keep in touch. When he mentioned that he had started a new band and they were going to release a 7 inch, I knew that I was going to have to play the part of "the good friend" and buy a copy. I wasn't too excited to spend the money, and buying from Refused Records is a bit of a pain in the ass since you have to place your order and then wait for an invoice before paying...still, I can trust Lins' judgement, and he isn't a total plum, so I felt safe that his band wouldn't be complete shite, and I ordered the record.

Tied Down obviously lifted their name from Negative Approach, but holy shit, they sound a lot like that band as well. These six songs absolutely rip and rage with that Negative Approach power and aggression. This is seriously good, and for a hot minute it has me interested in hardcore again.