Wounded Touch isn’t interested in quiet moments. Their new track is a nonstop, straight-up heavy 2000s metalcore/mathcore throwback, channeling the raw force once tapped by bands like Poison the Well, Zao, Norma Jean, and Hopesfall. The exclusive premiere of their new music video, “The Damning Variable,” is live now, right here, ahead of its official release on February 4.
Their May full-length—coming out on Smartpunk Records—will keep that momentum going, especially after the buzz they’ve built since their 2024 split EP with FallFiftyFeet and its unrelenting single “Submitted for (Dis)Approval.”
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A Michigan-based outfit with a resolute DIY ethic, Wounded Touch has hauled their intense sound to The Fest, Furnace Fest ‘21 and ‘23 official pre-shows, SXSW, and even a UK tour.
They’re the kind of band that sold out the first pressing of their debut LP by grinding hard and risking everything for each new inch of ground they’ve seized. This steadfast approach has drawn attention from Knotfest, Metal Hammer, No Echo, and New Noise Magazine, among others. Yet they still sound like they’d rather slam down a basement show than rest on those accolades.
“The Damning Variable” bristles with tension, matching the unfiltered spirit of early Norma Jean. Its lyrics sharpen that edge even further. The band depicts an artist bowing under the crushing gears of a machine while onlookers treat it like a spectacle:
An artist dies in the arms of a machine
And all their eyes watch like it’s a performance art piece
His brush strokes in panic commit to easel the creative flaw
Coded only in man to make immortal through
Fear the fleeting moments stolen in age.
No machine has been unmade by the haunt of nostalgia’s decay.
No oil-laden vein has severed nor oxidized at the numbing arrangement
Of words for want of another’s touch.
An unintelligible lyric from the mouth between the gears
And the final applause vindicate flesh rendered harmless again.
An artist dies in the arms of a machine and all their eyes watch
Like it’s a performance art piece.
The artist bows in death between the crushing gears
The machine feels nothing.
Applause at the death of an artist.
The machine feels nothing.
Each line dwells on the friction between human vulnerability and cold mechanical indifference, casting creation and destruction as stark, entwined forces. There’s no sentimentality here—just a blunt portrayal of what it means to pour yourself into art when progress grinds forward without remorse. It’s the kind of gut punch that reaffirms Wounded Touch’s fascination with the darker side of existence, all while staying loud and resolute.
With more music to come in 2025, this band isn’t slowing down.
“The Damning Variable” marks the next step in a steady climb that began in small clubs and has led them to bigger stages, a fervent fanbase, and plenty of hard-earned respect.
Wounded Touch remains immersed in the spirit of classic metalcore but refuses to be pinned to the past, still forging ahead with the same defiant pulse that got them here in the first place.