Carnal Repercussions
Carnal Repercussions is quick, heavy, brutal, unrelenting, squeaky—okay, maybe not squeaky, but I had to shake up this clichéd opening sentence somehow, and goddammit maybe Carnal Repercussions really is squeaky and you have no grounds to debate me on said issue until you hear the fucking album. Anyways, the point is that this is a hell of a debut from Salt the Wound, and it stays with you even after everything is all said and done.
This is a heavy album with loud guitars, sadistic drumming and excellent growling. Everything I look for when I’m listening to death metal, hardcore, etc. When you make this kind of music, you always run into the risk of sounding repetitive or even downright silly at times, and I’m happy to say that I didn’t hear any of that. The album felt consistent throughout and I didn’t find one dull second.
Who’s the audience for Salt the Wound? I’d say people who like The Black Dahlia Murder, Job for a Cowboy, Suicide Silence and Lamb of God would enjoy these guys tremendously. In fact, they really do remind me of Job for a Cowboy in some ways, and I have to be completely honest with you—I think these guys are even better. People who like death metal and black metal will most likely have very little complaints. Once it gets started, it doesn’t let up for a single moment. You can check out a few of their tunes on www.myspace.com/saltthewound.
Some favorite tracks are “Better than This,” “We’ll Sleep Until Sunset,” “Gloves” and “I Swear the Visine is for My Allergies.” Even though those are my favorites, this is another one of those albums where it’s best to listen to it all the way through. I’d never pop this in to hear one or two songs. No, the minute this goes into my CD player, it’s getting played all the way through. The only real weakness of the album is the overall length. It’s only over 36 minutes long, so it’s a quick listen. On the plus side is that it never overstays it’s welcome, but it would’ve been nice to see if they could’ve made it a little longer.
According to their bio it seems that Salt the Wound has undergone changes in the band lineup a couple of times before releasing this debut. Well, I hope that this is the permanent lineup, because they have set up a more than promising foundation with Carnal Repercussions, and it’ll be very interesting to see what they come up with next. Those who like their music heavy, angry and dark will not be disappointed.
