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Fresh off the plane with their brand-new album, coming all the way from Sacramento, California, the deathcore three-piece Saltwound introduces 'The Temptation of Pain'. Comprising of vocals, guitar and bass, these guys hold their own as if they were a full 5 piece. From their full-length album in 2022 ‘Vol 2: DESPAIR’, it's abundantly clear that they have upped their game - and even if you're not a fan of deathcore, it might be worth succumbing to 'The Temptation of Pain' and giving this a spin.
Starting off with ‘We all Burn’, the growling noise from the deep-toned bass with a mix of vocals kicking it off gives you an instant taste of how this album is going to progress throughout, and track two ‘Blight’ leads straight in with the bark which is a staple of any deathcore track worth its salt. The band really up the ante for movement and fall into a two stepping tempo that's a guarantee to get people going, before bringing in some real distortion on the vocals at around the 1 minute 30 mark of this song, changing tack on the original direction of the song to broaden the scope they've covered thus far.
Track three ‘Empty From The Start’ starts out the sonic equivalent of a bottomless pit, with some djent sounds impacting the mood, before the tempo increases in tandem to where a massive circle pit will likely start to take shape - before falling away again at the end, letting it all go again. The transition into track four, ‘Circle The Drain’, makes for a more pit-ready track from the off, as grimy vocals precede a satisfying riff, that's going to get fists flung into the air and bodies launching around the dancefloor.
Going into the fifth track, we reach the title track, which is a violent explosion of emotion filtered through an explosion of brutal sound, bound to carve open a wall of death. Track 6 ‘Hollow’ features a robotic sounding voice that briefly gives the listener time to cool down, before more meaty growls decimate any moment of calm and the hardcore influences get their chance to shine. Track 7 ‘Walking The Blade’ was one of the singles for the album, and gave fans a feel of what to expect across the release, which luckily it did perfectly. The screech that starts the song off parades into the track, and creates a tense atmosphere almost like that of watching a tightrope walker tread along a razor. ‘The Righteous Hand’ track 8, has a distorted feel from the offset, and goes straight into the deathcore we've come to know from Saltwound.
Coming towards the end, track 9 ‘Ensnared’ gets even darker, creating twinges and bringing the hairs up along your arms and neck. It manages to foster a feeling not unlike if someone was creeping down your neck, and shows the vocalist spiralling down whilst explaining their selfishness over things within their life. Finishing on Track 10 ‘Severance’, there's no slowing down here as the song is chock full of brutality from the get-go, giving some earthquaking moments before reaching the breakdown that somehow gets lower and lower and lower, to finally pummel you into sonic submission.
Saltwound have shown their hunger and thirst for pain on this album, and simultaneously proved that their hard work has paid off in this new era of their sound. 'The Temptation of Pain' shows a brand new side to the band and addresses some tough subject matter to boot, in a record that'll no doubt please fans of deathcore. It's not going to reshape the genre, but it's stretched the envelope and will incite many moshpits to come, which is more than enough for now!
‘The Temptation of Pain’ will be released on November 1st via Sharptone Records.
Words: Ciara Hicks-Evans
Photos: Saltwound
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