Artist: Bane
Album: The Note
Label: Equal Vision
Tracks: 10
Reviewed By: Chaz

It has been four years since Bane released their last amazing hardcore album, "Give Blood"(2001). Rumors of their demise had run through the hardcore community and those rumors, as many rumors do, turned out to be false. I love Bane. I have loved them since 1999. They represent to me what a band, not just a hardcore band, should be. They are sincere. They are honest. They are real. They know they exist because of the fans not that the fans exist for them. They are humble but also bold. To top it all off, they play great music and always ready to push their current work past their past work without selling out or watering it down.

"The Note" is a step above "Give Blood" and is the best hardcore album of this year. Lyrically, they have matured and broaden their view points on life and the scene. They also pay homage to their fans and keep them at the core of their being. Musically, they still bring the mosh hard over and over but they are bigger now. They are not afraid of throwing a piano into a song or bringing more melody. They still sound the same but they have changed. I could compare it like how Blink-182 was with all their past releases then with their new S/T album they changed but still had their own sound.

I have heard hundreds, maybe thousands, of hardcore records and I honestly haven't ever heard anything like this. If you are a Bane fan, you will be siked to see them live next time just to sing along to these new jams. Downright amazing!