Having a band named Splitknuckle evokes certain ideas even before you’ve heard the music. Violence, aggression, possibly-self-inflicted pain. Such ideas are only amplified in the title of latest album Breathing Through The Wound (Daze Records) and yes, the music within very much follows these initial impressions. 

Opener “Fuck Your Whole Life” comes in hot and gives a good indication of the kind of aggressive, heavy riffing to expect from the record. Slick, sudden riff changes bring to mind some NOLA sludge of old like Acid Bath or Soilent Green. Guitars and drums are as fluid and nimble as they are battering; the vocals a mix of guttural roars and screams. Here (as elsewhere on the record) you’ll also hear the hardcore influences that form a major part of the band’s sound.  

A five-piece from Essex (UK), Splitknuckle started out together as teenagers in 2012 and they certainly play like they’ve been honing their craft for a while, never sounding less than tight as the proverbial drum. Breathing Through the Wound is the band’s third full-length and first since 2018’s Innocence Bleeds. 

The record is driven by in-your-face extreme riffing, but the band never gets too locked into a formula. “We Share Blood” channels some Biohazard aggro in the chorus, before a morbidly slowing atmospheric, woozy outro hints at Odd Fellow’s Rest Crowbar; “Sharpening Teeth” features some of the album’s most memorable riffing, with a killer nu-metal-reminiscent breakdown. Lines like “Blood from my hands, Sweat from my pores, Get on your knees and beg, For just a little more” should tell you all you need to know about the tone. 

The biggest surprise comes with “Gethsemane”, a brooding, melodic opening sequence like Crowbar or Pantera at their most sombre (maybe even a hint of Faith No More), transitioning into a powerful, slow, grungy chug. It’s not just the music here that’s melodic, but the vocals too and as surprising as its appearance, it totally works.  

The various highlights mentioned aside, there is plenty here to unearth with successive listens, as each track offers new configurations of riffs and rhythms, and while there are clearly many nods to other bands (there’s definitely hints of Slayer in some of the tri-tone guitar moves), it is done in the way that music lovers absorb a variety of influences, rather than any cheap copying. 

And the sum total? A sound that’s modern, not because of some soon-to-dated technological fixation, but because it sounds fresh. Heavy music to mosh to in 2024 and it’s pretty darned fine.    

Buy the album here:
https://dazestyle.bandcamp.com/album/breathing-through-the-wound 

8 / 10
TOM OSMAN