Spawned in the lethargic backwoods of the pine tree state Portland, Maine’s CRUEL HAND play an eclectic blend of styles that embodies anything but the serenity of their surroundings. Formed in 2006 Cruel Hands sound was equal parts New York Hardcore and West Coast Thrash all with a twist of their own.
Cruel Hand continue to push the boundaries of hardcore, refining their sound with every release. While originally inspired by the sounds of Cro-Mags, early Metallica, and Madball their current efforts lean closer towards the post thrash era of Machine Head, Pantera, Biohazard and early 90’s street metal and metal core. On a lighter note their cover of Life Of Agony’s “Weeds” demonstrates versatility and growth as well as pays respect to that of LOA’s.
A perfect precursor to Cruel Hand’s music to come, “Dark Side of the Cage” is another masterpiece produced and recorded by the legendary Zeuss (Hatebreed, Rob Zombie, Agnostic Front, Terror).
With Zeuss at the helm of the project and his focus on keeping the bands aggression while still “serving the songs” DSOTC is the bands strongest effort yet. Cruel Hand continues to be a mainstay in underground music, embedded deep like a Maine summer tick.
The US version of this record is available via Static Era Records while the European version will be available via Dead Serious Recordings.
