When I saw Cruel Hand open for Sinking Ships and Ruiner earlier this year, I was "treated" to 20 boring minutes of mosh and two-step parts. Needless to say, an overwhelming feeling of 'meh' overcame me when I pulled their Without a Pulse full-length out of a manilla bubble mailer.

So the question I have is, are there two different hardcore bands named Cruel Hand?

Okay, not likely, but Without a Pulse is much less frilly than I'd imagined it to be. If straight-up pissed hardcore sounds like a good time, then Cruel Hand should fit one's desires pretty well. Think a slightly heavier Scraps and Heart Attacks and you'd be on the right path. With rambled, rushed vocals in "Trust Me," band name-appropriate lyrics like "I don't want to find the good in people / I want to find the real" in "Lack Thereof," and the throat-searing "Crashing Down," Without a Pulse is full of decadently decent jams that provide a solid quick fix.

Although Cruel Hand is assuredly a bit slower, perhaps it would increase your interest to mention that the band contain members of Outbreak. Perhaps it would also be totally irrelevant to mention that the band or artwork director was just a little inspired by Usurp Synapse's discography cover...at the very least, its color scheme. I mean, shit.

In any event, Without a Pulse is a pleasantly menacing surprise from 6131 Records, who continue to deliver the goods after the approving Permanent album a few months ago.

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Crashing Down
Under the ice