While Portland, Maine's Cruel Hand has been identified with that strangely durable neo-hardcore style of the last decade, the band's sound stretches a little further, encapsulating the diverse energy and heaviness of Metallica and Bouncing Souls. Vocalist Chris Linkovich leads Cruel Hand with a Black Flag-era Henry Rollins' authority, projecting his scream-talk with an exercised control over jutting guitars and plenty of tempo-fluctuating breakdowns.
The five-year-old East Coast band has produced two EPs and three full-lengths, the latest being 2010's Lock & Key, a record that wears melody proudly on its sleeve as much as rhythmic brutality. Both catchy and intense, Cruel Hand's ability to channel its array of influences into a loosely identifiable hardcore whole may be the key to their own longevity. This show is eighteen and up, and tickets are $10. Doors open at 7 p.m., show begins at 8 p.m.
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