Old Wounds Went to Make One Record and ‘Came Out Doing Another’

It's only been a short trip thus far for New Jersey's Old Wounds -- with only a handful of releases out -- but the foursome have proselytized their own scaring of dissonant riffs and harrowing anger that bleeds from the thrones of Converge and Cursed. Their newest offering, 'Sleeper,' puts the band in a select category when you look over the audio landscape of hardcore's underground.

"Even though I just joined the band not to long ago, it wasn't difficult for me to come to the conclusion that this band wasn't out there to solely make songs for a huge fan base, but to play the type of music they wanted to hear," bassist Mike Mazza told Noisecreep. "Quickly I caught on and started to appreciate the 'outside of the box' style of music we made. Originality is definitely key."

Formed out of the remains of Faith or Fury, this newest project's intentions were clear from the get go. "Our common goal was to sound harsh, different and solid," drummer Luke Mckenna commented.

The band's first seven-inch offering, 'Wastelands,' relied on blast beats and quick jabs. In retrospect, it seemed almost foreign to the eclipsing sound the band has embraced now. "'Wastelands' was more for attention from the common eye I'd say with the excitement that we tried producing it along with something people just weren't used to," said Mckenna. "'Sleeper' though, we went into the studio doing one thing, and came out doing another. We started writing for 'Sleeper' the same way we did 'Wastelands,' and we pulled it together to get a more mature approach out of our sound."

The band credited Defeater's Jay Maas production for the heightened progression on 'Sleeper,' shaping the three-song release that has marked the next level of the band. "Recording with [Maas] was so rad. I'm a huge fan of his work, and just the over all vibe we had gotten from recording there," said frontman Brandon Gallagher. "It ruled being that we were all the way up in Massachusetts where it gets so cold and dark. It really helped give the vibe we wanted on this EP."

Then most common comment the band finds from the recently-converted fan is that Old Wounds are doing something drastically different. "It's definitely flattering when people say that," said Gallagher. "Isn't that what music is all about in the end? We're not doing this band for anyone but ourselves. We don't sit down and go, 'OK, lets see how weird we can get on this next song.' It's just natural for us to write this way." He added that elements of psych rock might creep into the band's upcoming EP.

"It feels good to know that people enjoy our music because it's different," guitarist Zak Kessler added. "We don't think like other bands. Most other people will try to mimic a style or a band, but we just play what we want to hear. Whatever we think sounds cool is what we'll pursue or follow through with."

Old Wounds expect to have another EP out by the spring.