Bound - "Fire's Dying"

Central NJ emotional hardcore (as in "emotive", not "Promise Ring") that really had their own thing going at the point in time which they occupied. They didn't really"fit the mold" of any mid or late 90s style, so to speak. It wasn't uncommon to see this band playing with your typical vegan (as the members of Bound subscribed to these ideologies) metalcore bands one weekend, with your typical youth crew 1997-era redux the next, and then a week later play with somewhat similar emo hardcore bands like Introspect or Autumn. For example, I saw this band twice. Once in Baltimore, in early March of 1998. They played with Turmoil, Torn Apart, Prisoner Of Conscience and Culture. The music Bound played was definitely heavy, but I'm not sure if one could just lump them into the "metal" category. They were a pretty original band, and the fact that this album includes a Police cover helps to prove these kids weren't shortsighted as far as influences go. There is also a liner note that states "Cherish ends with Little Earthquakes in honor of Tori Amos". I'm not familiar with any Tori Amos songs so I really can't comment on, uh, how that song ends. BUT, the last song on this cd, a hidden track, has a 4 or 5 minute piano intro, and I've always found that to be interesting. Plus, it's almost 14 minutes long and eventually turns into a completely different song with some screamy female vocals and at least 1 male band member shouting "go vegan!" It's probably either a cover song or a song from their demo, but I'm not privy to that information. Other liner notes include contact information for various animal rights organizations, which was par for the course because this was 1996 / 1997. Lots of angst would come across in both their records and live shows.

Bound released two records to my knowledge, both of which were released by Spiritfall Records, from Bridgewater, NJ, which couldn't be more than a 45 minute drive from the town of Ringoes where Bound was from. Bound's singer, Jay Shevchuk, went on to play in the much more popular bands None More Black and Kid Dynamite. These jams were recorded at Graphic Sound System in Ringoes during November of 1996. Best songs? "Mind-Forged Manacles" and "Formulated", easily. Lastly, I remember the bands drummer, Dana, looked remarkably like the girl I took to my senior prom but, alas, was not the same person.

-here-

Tracklist
1) Unholy
2) Mind-Forged Manacles
3) Formulated
4) New Spirit
5) King Of Pain
6) Circumstantial
7) Embossed
8) Cherish
9) Echo
10) Fire's Dying
11) (hidden track)