EP REVIEW: Bleed The Dream – Foreign Hands

Chances are you’ll probably have a good idea of what FOREIGN HANDS sound like from their artwork alone. The Delaware five-piece’s entire aesthetic is so intensely steeped in early 00s metalcore nostalgia that it’s impossible to miss. The same is also absolutely true of their music. Having made waves with a few EPs thus far, their latest release Bleed The Dream arrives this Friday via up and coming hardcore label DAZE. It’s a serious throwback record, much like those we’ve had from bands like DYING WISH and WRISTMEETRAZOR in recent years. If the nostalgia or the oversaturation of records like it puts you off, it really shouldn’t; this is yet another quality addition to an ever more vibrant ‘revivalcore’ scene.

As a record, Bleed The Dream takes the form of a short, sharp five-track EP. There is absolutely no fat on this whatsoever, with the band tearing through the whole thing in a breathless 14 and a half minutes. One band that particularly spring to mind throughout are metalcore pioneers POISON THE WELL, which is definitely a good thing. It strikes that glorious balance between melody and savagery, with vocalist Tyler Norris conducting proceedings with a relentless, rasping fury. Occasionally, the band dip into spoken vocals which feel like another obvious nod to PTW, while guitarist Jack Beatson’s cleans add a soaring emotional quality to the record’s bristling metallic aggro.

Turning to the tracks themselves, each provides as fine a slice of throwback metalcore as you’ll hear all year. For every massive chugging breakdown, FOREIGN HANDS are sure to provide an equally huge melodic break, chorus, or guitar line. Second track and lead single Separation Souvenir delivers particularly massively on all those fronts, but there are no weak offerings here. A Cardiac Winter sounds like it could’ve been on Tear From The Red, albeit with a more modern beef, while Hesitation Marks’ sub-90-second runtime provides surely the record’s most condensed blast of ferocity of all. Everything runs by with a chaotic, ferocious urgency, with the band operating almost exclusively at full throttle throughout. The only real exception to this is a brief dynamic break in the aforementioned Separation Souvenir – another PTW-ism that only accentuates the intensity that follows.

Ultimately, Bleed The Dream is not an original record, but you can’t fault a single second of its execution. It sounds great, the ideas are solid, and it’s not a moment too long. If anything its brevity is one of its greatest strengths, lending itself to practically endless repeated listens. Crucially, it feels like the best is still yet to come for FOREIGN HANDS, and no doubt as they find more of their own identity they will only become an ever more potent force in today’s thriving metalcore scene.

Rating: 8/10

Bleed The Dream is set for release on February 18th via DAZE.

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