Since forming in 2018, New York’s Bore have blurred the edges between mathcore, hardcore punk, and alternative metal, building a reputation for chaotic live shows and a sound that feels both aggressive, frenzy, but deliberate.
Founded by Branden Gallagher and Danny Kopij, the band gradually came into full form with Sid Valiquette and Dale Luce. After releasing two EPs and two splits in their first five years and touring the East Coast extensively, they built a small but loyal following. By 2025, the lineup includes Gallagher on vocals, Kopij on guitar and vocals, Valiquette on bass, and Matt McAteer on drums.
Their debut full-length, “Feral,” produced by Adam Cichocki (Gatherers, Soul Blind, Kaonashi) and released via Silent Pendulum Records, was born from a long, slow process of writing, reflection, and waiting.
“We wrote and demoed the record between 2020 and 2022 in our old practice space in West Babylon, NY,” the band says. “We recorded it with Adam Cichocki at Timber Studio in Bayonne, NJ. Most of the tracking was done in December of 2022 with a few more sessions scattered in wrapping in spring of 2023.”
They lived with Cichocki during the sessions, calling it “probably the most productive and creative recording session any of us have ever had.” They threw “everything and the kitchen sink” into it.
The biggest hurdle wasn’t the making — it was getting the record out. “We ended up sitting on the record for almost two years,” they recall. “We had initial label and distribution conversations that weren’t going anywhere or the way we wanted them to. Then at the 11th hour when we were about to just give up and drop the record ourselves, Silent Pendulum swooped in and saved the day.”
The title came naturally. “Feral comes from how animalistic and primal the world’s gotten,” Gallagher explains. “It’s not an openly political record on the surface, but the apathy people have towards awful shit in this world while behaving like wild animals if their beliefs get questioned informs a lot of the lyrics.” The result is an 11-song reflection on alienation, self-loathing, corruption, apathy, and what they call “the death of the American dream.”
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Lyrically, “Feral” captures despair and confrontation in plain sight. In “Feed,” Gallagher writes, “We are producers of the meaningless. Scrawled and unsubscribed.”
The title track leans darker: “A stagger in the step, a thorn in my side. The wing always breaks waiting to fly. Tongue like a dagger, lips like a shrine. Regret comes when you’re waiting to die.” “Hopeless Poet” lands with resignation — “There’s no fear of the distance. I’ve walked down this road, what’s a little bit more?” — while “Hoof & Feather” folds in mortality and fatigue: “Should we be buried or just grin and bear it? I’d rather be buried.”
Gallagher describes the writing intent simply: “We wanted to make the record we wanted to hear that’s a reflection of the world we live in.” Earlier EPs were, as he puts it, “straight up Converge, Every Time I Die, and Botch worship,” but “Feral” expands that base.
“We kept our little mathcore base but started pulling inspiration from stuff like Mr. Bungle, Cake, At The Drive-In, Explosions in the Sky, Helmet, and Chuck Mingus. Wanted to make something you can stage dive and two-step to, but could also zone out to.”
That tension plays out in the tracklist. “Fangs & Snakes” began as part of a longer song and became an opener about their early drummer’s tantrums and ultimatums. “Feed” came together in about an hour, turning frustration with algorithmic life into music. “Unmarked; Unnoticed” was written while Kopij recovered from hand surgery, inspired by protest, police violence, and the trial of the Chicago 7. “Hoof & Feather” deals with family ties and personal hardship. “Hopeless Poet” — written in an hour — captures the loop of self-destruction and exhaustion with life.
“Bungled” dives into anxiety and self-loathing. “Teeth,” their most straightforward punk track, draws on Joe Hill’s “Abraham’s Boys” and looks at family violence and hidden truths. “Deadbed” connects death, faith, and failure, partially inspired by the death of a friend, with Gallagher weaving his friend’s poetry into the lyrics. “Limb,” the first Bore song ever written, traces the story of a child of a sex worker confronted with the loss of innocence.
The closer, “Feral,” accepts a kind of philosophical resignation — “Heavily rooted in Nietzschean despair and nihilism while trying to find the bright spots in a black hole.”
The album’s artwork, created by Charles Cure (Spiritkiller, Hush, Endicott, Crisis Actor), mirrors its themes. Bore had previously worked with Cure on a split with Crisis Actor and admired his approach. They sent him the record and told him to “create what he heard.” What came back — a man in his most primal form, either appeasing or feeding himself to a wolf, framed for public display — “clicked with us right away,” the band says.
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“Feral” also emerges from a specific New York and Long Island context. “Right now is the most time in the sun Long Island, I guess Metalcore for lack of a better term, has had in about 20 years,” Gallagher says. He points to Johnny Booth, Godseyes, and Loss Becomes as examples. “LI historically always had a rich hardcore, punk, and emo scene, but for whatever reason people got hesitant if things got a little more metal or niche, so all our bands would have to leave home and tour before we started seeing more people show up back home.” Bore’s home base remains Amityville Music Hall, with Gold Sounds in Brooklyn becoming “a second home for our little scene.”
Their connection to Silent Pendulum Records came through mutual friends. “We’ve been fans of SPR for awhile through their reissues and early releases,” they say. Kopij’s involvement in Dr. Acula and a passing introduction from Ryan Schutte (Pound) led to contact, but the real connection came via Travis Antoniello (Toothless, Sleepsculptor, SPR staff), who introduced them to label head Michael Kadnar. “We liked the deal and the freedom Michael gave us over all the other options we had at the time, so it seemed like a great fit.”
The record release show for “Feral” is set for December 20 at Gold Sounds in Brooklyn with Godseyes, Miracle Blood, and Firing Squad. Bore will tour throughout 2026, including two East Coast runs in January and March with Toothless and Loss Becomes, and a longer summer tour in the works.
Music videos for “Hopeless Poet” and “Deadbed” arrive ahead of the album, with a video for “Teeth” planned soon after.
“Feral” is out now via Silent Pendulum Records. Vinyl editions — including Wax Mage, Partymonster, and Infinity Splatter variants — are shipping immediately. The album is streaming everywhere, with “Hopeless Poet” and its video available through Silent Pendulum’s Bandcamp and YouTube.
