New England-based band Broken Vow are creating hardcore with purpose and urgency. Formed in early 2020 after meeting through their local scene, the five-piece band released a demo that same year and followed it up with the 2021 EP, Sane Minds End. After a stream of relentless touring and what seemed like endless writing, the band is proud to announce their first full-length album, Anthropocene, set for release this fall on their new label home, Triple B Records. Today, the band shares lead single “1.5”, a blistering track centered around the album’s environmental and socially charged themes. Leaning into the metallic side of hardcore, deep, chunky riffs meet pummeling drums and an unrelenting vocal delivery.
Diving into the lyrics on “1.5,” vocalist Tommy Harte states:
“Every year we lose 1.5% of wild nature to development, extinction, and general human intervention. This song is about the objective truth that humanity is squandering the privilege of the earth. This is not our dominion, and if we wish to survive we must exist in harmony with the earth and cease to view it as a foe to conquer.”
On Anthropocene, everything the band does is bigger, heavier, and more determined. To achieve the fuller sound, the band worked with Chaz at The Spot in New Haven, CT for recording and mixing, and it was mastered by Will Killingsworth (Orchid) at Dead Air Studios in Amherst, MA. Capturing the wild energy of their live show, the nine songs on the record are built around metallic riffs and an explosive vocal delivery. Taking influence from bands like Strife, xRepentancex, and Hopesfall, they’ve created an array of absolutely crushing moments met with melodic solace. Lyrically, the album is meant to be inspiring and a testament to the bands Broken Vow grew up on.
Reflecting on the themes and influence of the record, Harte expands:
“When writing the lyrics for this album I was heavily influenced by bands who tackled a wide variety of subject matter in a cohesive and thought provoking way. Undying, Earth Crisis, Chokehold, and the more political-leaning Bridge Nine bands provided a lot of inspiration in that respect. The bulk of songs on this record are about humanity’s relationship with the earth, the pressing issue of our time. The generation this band comes from is one that never really knew environmental peace and from a young age has had to grapple with feelings of doom, guilt, and confusion around the topic. I’m not a genius, or an inventor, or a problem solver but I am a human, so that seemed the best angle to come at it from. This record is about the anger that comes from watching those in power fail to slow our culture’s ever-quickening descent into environmental and social destruction. It’s about feeling hopeless and still refusing to give up hope. It’s about empowering the everyman, who has been taught to be at peace with his powerlessness. But most importantly it’s about not being alienated from your own humanity despite the pressures of our culture and civilization. It is within this humanity that we will find the power to influence the change necessary to salvage what’s left of the world.”
Anthropocene is available for preorder now through Triple B Records.
Broken Vow is Tommy Harte (vocals), Harrison Sacco (guitar), Evan Stein (guitar), Max Holsbeke (drums), and Olin May (bass).
Anthropocene Tracklist:
1. Burning Your Throne
2. Kingdom Dies
3. Evil Armies
4. Function
5. 1.5
6. Propaganda Of The Deed
7. Shift Tactics
8. Reversal
9. No More Air
Upcoming Shows:
8/20 – Hamden, CT @ The Shop w/ Wreckage + Combust