Wounded Touch : "Traumatic Entanglement"

This band from Michigan plays an interesting style of hard-core. It does bring elements of screamo and the more emotional side of 90s hardcore into play at times but on the opening track, this plays to their favor as it creates a more melodic shade to give the chaos something the soul can relate to. Sung vocals are often a counterpoint to the more screamed ones. They are more kinetic than metal. This does not mean they do not employ things like breakdowns or are any less intense. There is a dynamic range to their songwriting that makes it more appealing to me than what I normally hear from this sort of thing. 

The second song carries more of an attack. The sung vocals still come up to offset some of the angry screaming. They are more in your face for this song than they were with the opening song. This makes it less melodic and more frantic. The chugs have more weight, and lower growls roar up to join in the punches. The melodic break in the middle of the song was unexpected, so they got points for throwing this curveball. "Submitted for (Dis) Approval" feels almost more like an interlude at a minute and a half though they do cram enough in to make it a song.

"In Mouths Weilding Silence" attacks in a manner that aligns more with what you might expect from hard-core. There is a metal edge to this but things feel rawer than what gets called metalcore these days. Things go in a more disjointed and dissonant direction here. I will give this album an 8.5, it's almost not enough to really make a solid judgment. It's a shame there are only four songs as I would like to hear more of what they are capable of. If you like hard-core that leans in a more metal-core direction then chances are you will dig this album. 

pst388