Bane has always been a staple in hardcore. They deliver powerful anthems, have a strong work ethic, have established themselves in the underground music scene and are influential to numerous other bands. It comes as no surprise then, that after taking a four-year break, their latest release, The Note, embodies all the aspects that fans have grown to love: clear-cut messages, strong ties to a sense of community and a love of traditional, “old skool” hardcore. This album breathes life in to what can be a very copycat, trend-set genre by staying true to what they began a decade ago and by remaining consistent without being predictable.
The album’s sixth track, “My Therapy,” boasts what bassist Pete Chilton considers to be all they know. Lyrically, “My Therapy” is a heartfelt tribute to the hardcore scene and how it saved their lives: “Because of these days I’ll never have nothing at all / Because of these times there’s only so far I can fall / There will always be a place, there will always be a crowded room, where I’m not all alone.” Anyone who has been a part of this scene long enough to personally relate to these lyrics can only realize that Bane is a true testament to this very idea within the hardcore scene.
“This is all we know,” Chilton said. “We’ve been doing it so long so this scene is what’s in us now. We’re a part of it. It’s where we relate, it’s a community, and it’s where people understand us,” he explained.
It has been four years since Bane’s last release, and although The Note delivers all that has come to be expected from the group, from start to finish it’s less than a half an hour long. It’s a half an hour well spent though, packed with the energy, heart and passion most bands not only lack, but could easily spend a lifetime trying to gain.
