Boston Hardcore Band BLOOD FOR BLOOD Shares First Single In Two Decades, 'You're Gonna Have To Kill Me'

Roadrunner Records has announced the signing Boston hardcore institution BLOOD FOR BLOOD.

Since 1994, BLOOD FOR BLOOD has quietly achieved its rightful place in the hardcore pantheon, thanks to an all-out punk and hardcore assault delivered with metallic precision, laced with venomous swagger and spiked with a sarcastic sense of humor. Now they share their new single "You're Gonna Have To Kill Me". It's the first new song from BLOOD FOR BLOOD in 21 years.

Fueled by the very unbridled aggression that propelled them to the top of the hardcore scene in the '90s and early '00's, BLOOD FOR BLOOD is, put simply, fucking back.

Opening with that hardened grit that only a Boston-bred voice could deliver, the band hasn't missed a (two) step — with bass lines that slap and their perma-quintessential middle fingers raised high. It's all fingerpointing, floorpunching, and fist-in-the-air fury.

Notice the tip of the hat to Paul Newman in "Cool Hand Luke", giving way an ominous groan of distortion and frenzied double bass. The riffs thrash and roll, and the groove quakes with enough force to register on the Richter scale. Its bellowing chorus splits the pit with a call-to-arms: "Stay down you're gonna have to kill me, 'cause we won't stay down 'til we're dead." A melodic call-and-response burns like a light at the end of the tunnel.

About the song itself, BLOOD FOR BLOOD singer Rob Lind says, "It's a straight-up-the-pipe BLOOD FOR BLOOD song. Initially, it points out pop culture's fascination with criminality and outlaw nonsense. Everybody is trying to be wild, gangster, or whatever, all of which 'You're Gonna Have To Kill Me' sneers at. For all of this contempt, it ends on a really positive note. It might even be uplifting, which is my hope."

Furthermore, the band declares, "BLOOD FOR BLOOD have returned from exile with new music and new live dates. We're proud to say we've signed with Roadrunner Records, and our new single 'You're Gonna Have to Kill Me' is streaming everywhere now."

The band's upcoming live dates are below. Shows go on sale on Friday, December 12 at 10 a.m. local time.

2026 "Return From Exile" tour dates featuring SKINHEAD:

April 9 - Philadelphia, PA - Underground Arts
April 10 - Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Monarch
April 11 - Cambridge, MA - The Middle East
April 17 - Los Angeles, CA - The Belasco
April 19 - Berkeley, CA - The Cornerstone
May 30 - Detroit, MI - Tied Down
November 20 - Netherlands - Revolution Calling*

* BLOOD FOR BLOOD only

BLOOD FOR BLOOD came out swinging on 1997's "Spit My Last Breath". You could say they unassumingly reflected the intensity of a scene overlooked by the music industry and simultaneously mirrored the aggression of a working class forgotten by its country's "leaders." During 1998, BLOOD FOR BLOOD uncorked unadulterated rage with "Revenge On Society", which Axe To Grind cited as one of the "5 Hardcore Albums That Defined 1996-2000." The musicians rallied together with 1999's "Livin' In Exile", hailed as "definitive" by Boston Phoenix. The 2002 opus "Outlaw Anthems" resonates to this day with millions of streams. Moreover, they toured with everyone from DROPKICK MURPHYS to TERROR and SICK OF IT ALL. Garnering praise, New Noise Magazine marveled at how "their unforgiving attitude of give no fucks simultaneously created their own niche of a scene, a style, and a culture within sub-genres of music which quickly spread worldwide," and Invisible Oranges attested, "Rob Lind is a friggin' genius in my book." No Jumper even touted them among "the best hardcore bands of all time." Save for a few short-lived reunion attempts, the band was more or less dormant from 2004 onward. Shocked to life once more by founder, guitarist, and vocalist "White Trash" Rob Lind and O.G. bassist Ian McFarland, BLOOD FOR BLOOD is back with shows and its first original release in 21 years "You're Gonna Have To Kill Me".

BLOOD FOR BLOOD is:

Rob Lind - Guitar, Vocals
Pete Morcey - Vocals
Ian McFarland - Bass
Justin Legere - Guitar
Jamie Muckinhaupt - Drums

Photo credit: Jason Zucco