You would be forgiven if you had missed out on the Michigan/New-York outfit’s 2022 debut album Americanxiety, especially since it was released on the same day as Vein.fm‘s much anticipated follow-up to 2018’s Errorzone. However, that year, Americanxiety was easily one of the best hardcore-adjacent records to come out of the underground, with its eye-catching artwork, shrieking vocals that scraped away at eardrums like razor blades and more importantly, the band’s conceptual observation of the correlation between isolation and societal unrest in North America around the time of its release.
Fast-forward to current times and while things have gone from bad to worse, and not just on the American continent, in the meantime Wounded Touch have opted for a less conceptually-driven approach on A Vivid Depiction Of Collapse and instead look inwards, presenting more personal narratives, for the most part, rather than using socio-political uncertainty as the album’s thematic cornerstone. This change is of course reflected by a slight evolution in sound, which had previously been hinted at on standalone singles and their split EP with fallfiftyfeet (which any fan of mathcore and/or emoviolence should also most definitely get acquainted with) released in-between both albums.
As listeners are greeted into the album by a jarring, stuttering disembodied voice repeating the line “Please, show me how to make your pain my own” and the band build anticipation before fully revealing themselves in a percussive detonation of low end bass, panic chords and powerful vocals, the aforementioned evolution is noticeable right away.
“This celebration of course manifests itself in many forms, grief being an inevitable one, which is touched upon”
On A Vivid Depiction Of Collapse, it appears Wounded Touch have made a conscious, deliberate effort to re-create the kind of sound they most likely spent their formative years being influenced by. In this case, the whole wave of bands that blurred the lines between metalcore, mathcore and post-hardcore from the late 90s to early 2000s, such as Poison The Well, Botch, early Norma Jean, Zao and even The Dillinger Escape Plan.
That being said, Wounded Touch gracefully avoid the trap of falling into mere surface-level imitation. Instead, they put these musical influences who very clearly hold an important place in their own lives at the very core of their band’s DNA on this new release, weaving it into their own style and narrative as Wounded Touch while still paying homage to their roots.
From the self-explanatory opener ‘If I Could Make Your Pain My Own’ to the last two tracks of the record both celebrating the positively transformative impact that parenthood can have in one’s life and one’s outlook on it, the idea of celebrating loved ones and bettering yourself for their sake is peppered throughout the album as a driving thematic. This celebration of course manifests itself in many forms, grief being an inevitable one, which is touched upon in what is easily the album’s emotional peak, ‘Every Grieving Piece’, with Providence post-hardcore/skramz outfit Dreamwell adding even more depth and emotional intensity to the track.
Second track ‘Shield of White Roses’ also praises the balance and supports a partner can provide as well as their resilience, especially during rougher patches and musically, the track reassures returning listeners that those distinctive, high-pitched lacerating shrieks from vocalist Nick Holland are still very much part of the band’s raw aggressive sound. Although A Vivid Depiction Of Collapse has this guiding thread of personal stories, across the album’s run-time Wounded Touch also address topics such as dealing with regret, the conflicting need for validation as an artist, the place of the artist in a world where artificial intelligence is now unavoidable and the danger of putting personalities or role models on pedestals.
In all of this, though, what Wounded Touch have to offer on A Vivid Depiction Of Collapse could simply be summed up in one word, and that word would be “efficient” and not meant in a negative tone. Everything the band presents on this new album is done with purpose and the way these songs are written efficiently brings out that intent, even upon first listen, without having to dissect any of the well crafted lyrical content. Every riff, hit of the kit, passionate scream, breakdown and repeated lyrical line hammers in the band’s vision with real, genuine intention and it is immediately palpable.
From the opening repeated pleas of yearning to take away another’s pain to take it upon oneself to the tension-filled, dramatic repetitions of «It ends with me» on the outro of album closer ‘Vultures Await Them, Son’, manifesting the will to break vicious cycles and improve the world around oneself for the sake of your children. And of course, without forgetting the absolute earworm that is the repetition of the lyrics «I have no words left to offer or give you» over the breakdown(s) of lead single ‘Consequence and Broadcast’. There is a raw, undeniably authentic energy and emotion that is present in everything Wounded Touch have released so far, and that energy sounds bigger and better than ever before on A Vivid Depiction Of Collapse.
While this record might be aimed at a target audience who, like the band themselves, spent some of their formative years listening to the likes of the previously mentioned influences ; it is also sure to seduce younger audiences currently exploring the genre and willing to go further down that rabbit-hole, surfing the nonnegligible “revival” wave of reverent nostalgia the style has been enjoying in recent times. If you are lucky enough to be attending Furnace Fest later this year, do not miss out on Wounded Touch as they share the bill with some of the aforementioned founding giants of the genre who have inspired and shaped so many already beloved current generation bands.