BORE – FERAL

(Andy Synn has gone Feral… and thinks you should too)

My love of Hardcore (mostly of the more “Metallic” variety) has been well-documented by now.

After all, many of my earliest, and longest-lasting, musical loves had their roots in Hardcore, and many of the genre’s ideals (or, at least, what I still think of as the genre’s ideals) – of promoting community and collaboration, of building bonds and breaking down boundaries – are ones which still resonate with me today.

That being said, I’d never claim to be an expert on the current state of “the scene”… I’ve always been a bit of an outsider, truth be told, and rarely do I have any idea what (or who) is currently cool (or not), which means I’m often late to the party (if I even get invited at all).

For once, however, I feel like I’ve got my finger if not smack-dab on the pulse (today’s band already have a couple of EPs and splits to their name prior to this release) then at least pretty close to it considering that Bore‘s debut album, Feral, was released just last week but is already making some well-deserved waves.

“Technical Metalcore” is the name of the game here…  all serrated riffs, stun-gun rhythms, nerve-scarping hooks and scorched-tongue vocals which (the occasional dash of crooning melody on tracks like first half highlight “Hoof and Feather” and the climactic title-track aside) have little in common with the more radio-friendly incarnation of the M-word which has (unfortunately) become somewhat synonymous with the term these days.

Instead, think bands like Deadguy and Botch, Imprint-era V.O.D. and late-90s Zao – your touchstones may vary, of course, but it feels to me that the band are more than happy to wear these influences on their collective sleeve(s) like proverbial badges of honour – and you’ll be in the right sort of ball-park, musically speaking.

But don’t go thinking that Bore are just some lazy tribute act or one of those insufferable retro-fetishists trying to bring back “the good old days”… no, these dudes are as modern, as now as they come, not just in terms of the punishing, machine-like precision and carefully calculated chaos of their approach but also in the way you can feel them stretching and testing the boundaries of their sound, from the warped weirdness of “Bungled” (think Rorschach-meets-Ringworm) to the more introspective, almost Post-Metallic, strains of “Limb”.

The biggest issue with Feral, however – from where I’m sitting at least – is figuring out how best to write about it without sounding excessively hyperbolic, as this is one of those albums that simply does not miss (even the interlude track is perfectly placed), meaning it would be far too easy (and tempting) to just fill up the rest of this review with nothing but gushing praise.

What I’m going to do instead is just highlight a few personal favourites of mine (yours may well end up being different, don’t worry) like early stand-outs “Feed” – whose massive guitars, discordant hooks, and pulverising percussive patterns fare early indicators of just how good this album is going to be – and the absolutely brutalising barn-burner that is “Hopeless Poet” (which is easily one of the most intense tracks I’ve heard this year), as well as the biting, bass-heavy grooves of “Teeth” and the jagged, jarring assault of “Deadbed”.

The thing is though, there’s only so much I can do with words to get across just how scorchingly visceral, how thrillingly vital, and just how searingly venomous this album is… you really need to hear it (and appreciate it) for yourselves.

So if anything that I’ve written above has piqued your interest – whether you’re a Metal/Hardcore fan or not – you should make time to give Feral a spin ASAP, or else you’re going to risk missing out on one of the best new surprises of the year.