Salt The Wound
Carnal Repercussions
6.7
I couldn't tell you how many times I read "The Black Dahlia Murder" in the few Carnal Repercussions reviews I found in print and online, but it was certainly more than what my eleven fingers allow. Of course, that comparison did very little for me because I have never made a point of listening to any Black Dahlia record all the way through. However, the comparison did manage to persuade me to revisit Black Dahlia's Miasma, and I can now confidently conclude that, contrary to tradition, most of these critics were on to something, though there is something here that goes beyond that comparison and is worth talking about.
First off, these guys seem equally self-aware and honest. They're not tip-toeing through a simple Mimic 101 training session. In other words, Carnal Repercussions isn't as easily written-off as some critics might have you believe. Secondly, there are times when the album is even compelling in its own right, especially when they hit their groove in songs like "Gannon" or "A Slight Burning Sensation." That said, there is a striking resemblance to The Black Dahlia Murder template, from the blood-curdling vocals to the frenetic pace and sometimes thrashy guitar work. Even the guitar tone is eerily similar. If you played one song from both bands back to back, you might have a hard time telling the difference. It's a fairly unavoidable observation.
If you can't tell by now, Salt the Wound, as we know them through this full-length, are hardly original. Does this matter? If you're a fan of thrashy melodic death metal with a hardcore sheen then the answer is no. They do it pretty damn well, and even someone like me, who would normally go out of his way to avoid stuff like this, can get into, a fact that has to count for something. At a time when most of these relatively young bands seem to be embracing hardcore more than metal, it's rather refreshing to hear one that takes their metal a little more seriously.
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Salt The WoundAres
9/15/2009