Things have been busy in the Bleach Everything world lately. Guitarist Graham Scala's new electronic project with Ian Miller (Kowloon Walled City), Collapse Culture, are releasing their debut album on January 29, and drummer Ryan Parrish's new band Terminal Bliss (with members of pg.99 and City of Caterpillar) just released their killer debut EP Brute Err/ata on Relapse. Bleach Everything also have their own new two-song single, "Bound/Cured," due as a digital and X-ray flexi disc single on January 29 via Dark Operative (pre-order), and we're premiering "Bound," which is a sensory overload of raw, noisy, dissonant hardcore that clocks in at less than a minute and a half. They sneak in a little melody too, as vocalist Brent Eyestone explains:

Because of the geographical distance between all of us that came into play maybe 2 years after we formed in 2012, we've been writing and creating together from a distance long before 2020. That being said, this isn't a "quarantine record" by any stretch of the imagination. If anything, this song is in the same spirit that gives us the confidence and power to always move forward into our futures, be it personally with our loved ones or collectively in Bleach Everything.

When we made the "RFTCC" (Rocket from the Crypt Covers) recording last year, it unintentionally helped crack the code of how to blend melodic singing with harsher vocal elements. It always feels jilted and outright comical on my ears whenever Warped Tour-type bands attempt to blend guttural death metal vocals with pop punk choruses. I've always loved the concept of raging verses and anthemic choruses, but there's a very specific, kill-the-Death-Star-type precision involved with striking the right balance between those elements. Killing Joke are masters at it. Boysetsfire was one of the first bands ages ago that planted the seed that it's possible in more hardcore-oriented music. But working on "RFTCC" made it all finally click for our band... and we were more than happy to open up that new bag of tricks on "Bound/Cured." I still remember where I was and how it felt the first time I heard Graham's guitar melody on the chorus of "Bound." I instantly knew exactly what the song needed to be and heard the vocal parts just as immediately. It excited me far more than it terrified me, which was previously my default setting toward melodic singing in any band I've ever been in.

"Bound" was also the first song I've ever done where I went into the vocal booth almost immediately upon learning of a particularly young friend's death. If it sounds urgent and convicted, it's because I was locked fully into the inherent wake-up call that overwhelms when the fragility of this whole thing hits like a ton of bricks. This song is the proverbial raging against the dying of the light in every sense... and there is nothing I want more than to eventually sing it outside of the studio or from the driver's seat of my car.