Midwestern metalcore outfit Wounded Touch have returned with their new EP ‘They Promised Eden, Vol. 2’, which arrives through the reactivated Ferret Music.
The release is accompanied by a new music video for “Scarlet Psalm,” directed by Indy Nyles. According to vocalist Nick Holland, the second volume takes the cynical foundation established by its predecessor and pushes it toward a more aggressive sense of optimism.
“Volume 2, in contrast to its counterpart that released earlier in the year, maintains its cynical nature but with an aggressive optimism in both sound and subject.”
Holland explained that the band had not fully mapped out the second volume when the first installment arrived, but the response to that release quickly pushed Wounded Touch back into the studio.
“We admittedly hadn’t had the full thing mapped out or written when volume 1 dropped but the response to it had us in the studio almost immediately with a frenetic energy we hadn’t experienced since we were teens.”
He also singled out “Scarlet Psalm” as an important link between the band’s earlier material and their current direction, with the song dealing lyrically with the concept of martyrdom and the mistakes that have followed the band throughout its history.
“‘Scarlet Psalm’ is the bridge between the band’s sound we started with and where we’ve arrived today, carried by lyrics about the righteousness of martyrdom. All our mistakes we’ve made in the past and up to this point, and the chance we were still given by Ferret coalesces with the song’s final redemptive line. ‘Let me make this right.’”
The new EP also brings together the two ‘They Promised Eden’ chapters as what Holland describes as a larger singular statement. While the material originated as separate releases, the vocalist said the two halves ultimately came to feel like pieces of the same evolution.
“The marriage of ‘They Promised Eden’ Volume 1 and 2 as a singular release is like looking at a single photo of a living thing mid metamorphosis.”
Holland went on to explain that the first volume represented a sharp stylistic turn for Wounded Touch, while the second reflects the consequences and progression that followed.
The new collection also includes a re-recorded version of “Sleep A Cicada Would Envy,” originally released by the band in 2023, alongside “Scarlet Psalm” and “Amber Waves Of Arson.”
‘They Promised Eden, Vol. 2’ is available now through Ferret Music, with physical editions available through the label.
The new video for “Scarlet Psalm” is available below.
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