Lincoln band Borders combine elements of alternative metal, hardcore, grime and hip-hop in a ferocious nu-metalcore sound they describe as “fresh, exciting and heavy.”
The band members met when they attended university together and discovered a shared love of live music performance. They set about honing a brutally aggressive yet thought-provoking sound that pushes the limits of what you may expect from a metalcore band. As they summarise the Borders sound to us: “Imagine if four metalcore guys who really like grime completely lost it.”
Our latest taste of this is the band’s second album BLOOM SEASON, which was released two weeks ago. The album starts in style with Fade To Black, which sets out with rapped vocals that give way to a lively riff and an intense chorus. A cool little lick comes in over heavy guitars and drops into a rapped verse with plenty of low-tuned chugging guitars and vicious vocals permeating throughout.
That’s part of a heavy start to the album followed by Fix This, which starts with engaging rapped/spoken vocals that develop supported by crushingly heavy guitars. Then there’s a cool stabbing intro to Suffer, which sees engaging vocals “I won’t suffer, I won’t suffer, I won’t self-destruct, I won’t suffer, I won’t suffer, ‘Cause I’m rising up” drop into booming groovy guitars and a piercing synth. That flows into the great lyrics “Not a slave to these dark days, You know division can pave the way, They can’t prove it see, They got news to release, Social media screaming ‘fuck the police!'” Check it out here:
A personal favourite track is I Get High, which starts with light synth supporting rapped vocals. Instrumentals gradually creep in as it builds to a powerful chorus “I get high, To just feel alive, I’d give anything to feel something, So I get high, But I don’t feel alive, I just wanna feel, I’d give anything to feel something.” A more intense second verse follows and feeds into another big chorus, which ends on crushing guitars and screamed vocals, before ending on a final chorus.
There’s more of the same on Gaslight, starting slowly with rapped vocals before some deliciously brutal riffs and intense screamed vocals take over. And if you like big chunky guitars then you’ll love what’s coming your way on the excellent Cut The Rope and MDM.
But possibly the heaviest track on the album may be Godless, which features vocals by Elijah Witt from Cane Hill. It starts with a vicious low-tuned riff that continues under heavy vocals before intensifying with a huge stabbing riff and delving into a really dark place. Check it out in the video here:
The album concludes with the title track Bloom Season, which opens up with a cool, unusually high-pitched guitar lick that drops into rapped vocals. An engaging chorus takes over with dual clean and screamed vocals, giving way to a return of the cool riff. The pace drops before a big cry of “Fuck you, I believe in me” ushers in a crushing riff before a final blast of the chorus.
Speaking ahead of the album release, the band told us: “We are super excited. This album is a new direction compared to our other work, we’re incorporating more styles, sounds and we think this the best music we have ever written. It’s also our most personal project yet, there’s a lot of all of us in Bloom Season. Expect to be surprised and come on a journey with us.”
Borders draw inspiration from nu-metal classics like Korn, Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park. But their main inspiration for having the bravery to create music that pushes boundaries is Bring Me The Horizon, who they describe as “constantly evolving heavy music and switching up styles.”
And on what inspires them to write music, they add: “With Bloom Season, we took the songwriting in a more personal direction. It covers a lot of problems and strife we’ve all faced. Be that abuse, drug addiction, detachment from society, anxiety about the future – we think it’s a snapshot of what a lot of people growing up in our current world will (unfortunately) face or experience.”
There’s plenty more to come from Borders, who just wrapped up an album release tour across the country. We also recommend checking out their excellent debut album Purify and a solid back catalogue of singles. And they add: “We love anyone who gives us a listen and supports us, we couldn’t do this without you. We really hope you enjoy Bloom Season.”
You can follow Borders on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, and check out their music on Spotify and Apple Music.
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