The Love

Destiny Bond

Back in 2023, I discovered Denver, Colorado hardcore band Destiny Bond through their impressive debut titled Be My Vengeance. I really appreciated the classic, barre chord rock 'n' roll sound, as well as the rallying queer messaging. The band delivers more of the same on their sophomore record The Love, albeit with crisper production from Taylor Young (who co-produced Militarie Gun's Life Under the God), and stronger vocal performances from Cloe Madonna. On the previous effort, Madonna sounded like she was always on the last song of the set, which don't get me wrong, added a desperate, exasperated urgency to her message that translated really well. On this new collection, however, she comes across so much more powerful and aggressive, as every line is delivered with fiery distortion. With these minor adjustments and continuing to deliver great songwriting, I think The Love is a nice improvement over their last effort.

The album kicks off with a strong mission statement. Destiny Song once again aims to galvanize this spiritually connected community to embrace their individuality, in whichever way that may present. It's set to a driving floor-tom groove, militant bass, and feedbacking guitars. The band follows this up with their most chaotic cut yet, Free Me. It immediately launches into a rush of alternating kicks and snares. The guitars and Madonna's vocals are incredibly menacing. Lyrically, I interpret the song as a scramble not to succumb to the victim mentality. In today's social climate, being complacent towards all the hostility can cost you more than your rights, it could cost you your life. The intensity remains, yet with a more uplifting tone on Lookin' For a Fight. It's propelled by a textbook punk drum beat and sweetened with some ascending lead guitar melodies. Madonna preaches restraint, patience, and compassion when interacting with well-meaning folks who don't exactly get our identities. She further implies that our knee-jerk reaction to go on the offensive can sever a connection before reaching a mutual understanding. The second part of this track, Done Lookin', goes even harder as Madonna comes to the realization that she doesn't need to look for her community, community is what she can carve out for herself.

The good times and positive messaging continue on Can't Kill the Love. Depending on your thoughts regarding 90s post-grunge bands, you may find the pristine rock 'n' roll production and songwriting a tad cliché. However, the song does have a lovely sentiment that connects love to the law of energy; in that it cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred. A radical perspective on love is communicated with a radical vocal performance where Madonna delivers some of her most burning screams. Fast forwarding to the end, we get Fix, another great hardcore rager with yet another deeply affirming message. While the lecture -- explaining that differing identities and orientations are not an anomaly in need of rehabilitation -- is a tired one at this point, there are far too many out there that still aren't letting that sink in. Madonna is clearly sick of it at this point, stating bluntly that they need to "get a fucking grip."

Destiny Bond is proving to be a fairly vital hardcore band. While most bands these days are either aiming for crossover appeal or competing to be the heaviest in modern metalcore, Destiny Bond stays firmly rooted in pure hardcore tradition, and that's refreshing to me. The band sounds killer, especially with slightly sharper production when compared to their last effort. The aspects that I take the most pleasure in are Cloe Madonna's vocals and writing. She has such an amazing tone to her scream, such that I could listen to it non-stop without fatigue. When it comes to th writing, as a gay man, it's wonderfully cathartic. Madonna takes in all that hostility our community is subjected to and unleashes it back out with admirable force. Although, staying true to its album title, The Love is also able to balance all the anger with constructive community affirming and emboldening. With two fantastic records now, I'm really hoping Destiny Bond moves up in the hardcore world. I will certainly be following their activity more closely from now on.