Comprised of members of Sunlight’s Bane, And Hell Followed With, and Steamroller, Wounded Touch have made the most of their relatively short run up the ranks of heavy music's new school. Back in 2019, the band dropped a pummeling debut in From Day 0 Forward that resonated with fans across the spectrum of hardcore and metal.
Late last year, WT joined cohorts Binary and The Burning Wind for a trifecta of a split EP that managed to tap into that angst and anxiety of the shittiest year in recent memory. The band's memorable banger in "Suicide Note Forgery" captured the crushing strife of a community that found themselves without of a creative outlet, a source of income, and a means of confronting the emotional weight of such a catastrophic time.
Emerging from such a dark, desolate era, the band ensured they were no worse for the wear by remaining productive during their time away from stages and social circles. Retreating to Bricktop Studios (Ingrown, Wristmeeetrazor, Kharma, meth.). and recruiting Andy Nelson, Wounded Touch have a resounding sophomore album to show for their socially-distant strain.
Americanxiety serves the band's ode to the turmoil of the pandemic period and an cathartic purge that is pummeling, precise, and particularly poignant. To best introduce the the March 4th release, the band has shared the first showing from the collection of tracks and welcome the assist of The Black Dahlia Murder's Trevor Strnad on "Excerpts from a Violent Thesis".
The band discussed how the track is important in establishing the continuity and context of Americanxiety.
“‘Excerpts’ was a song we started tossing ideas around for based on the opening riff shortly after we recorded our EP, but it got shelved until we started writing again during lock down. It kept getting noisier and heavier with each iteration of riffs and lyrically, it felt necessary that the subject matter be a reflection of that and they ended up being about EMTs/Paramedics becoming desensitized to death and violence and the helpless feeling of losing yourself and the person you once had been before the exposure to such trauma."
The band also had high praise of the collaborative cosign of The Black Dahlia Murder frontman. "Being able to have Trevor work with us and lay vocals on the ending of the track was an idea we came up with after the initial recording session, and now it seems difficult to image the song finished without that contribution to its seething nature.“
Trevor Strnad also weighed in on his contribution, “It's an honor to be a part of this insanely angry track, which is aurally comparable to a point-blank Molotov to the face. Both emotionally raw and black matter heavy, Wounded Touch are as mean, menacing and real as it gets.”
Americanxiety, set for release on March 4th via Smartpunk Records. Pre-order the album - HERE
Stream the Knotfest.com premiere of "Excerpts from a Violent Thesis" featuring Trevor Strnad of The Black Dahlia Murder below.
