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 Title: “War Wounds” Artist: Penetralia From: "War Wounds" (2017) Release Date: April 28, 2016 Length: 3:49 Format: CD Single, Digital Download, Weekly Airplay, 7” Single Recorded: March 2016 - Clear Lake Recording Studios, Hollywood, California, US Genre: Post-Hardcore, Alternative Rock Label: Songs to Love and Die By Writer(s): Koda Espinosa, Beau Nero Producer(s): Penetralia, Cara Zayn
“War Wounds” is a track written and recorded by the American post-hardcore band 'Penetralia', marking the groups first release since March 2015 following a break from the industry on the back of two successful albums and a couple of years of almost constant work primarily with touring and recording. The California natives agreed that a rest and the chance to regain some semblance of normalcy following a completely unexpected period of success for the group was needed following a monumental tour in support of Julia Volkova that finished up in April 2016 the band found themselves a little burned out. Opting to step back from the world they now inhabit, the band didn't perform for almost an entire year, returning at the beginning of April 2017 for their own UK tour and only re-entered a recording studio in January of this year, unsure of what they planned to do next but recharged and hungry nevertheless.
A decision was made around December 2016 from the group to begin thinking about the next step for the band, this of course meant for them to begin thinking about the third studio album and beyond and they all agreed that it was time for them to get back to work and agreed to reconvene at Clear Lake Recording Studios in Hollywood, California in the new year. The band then began thinking about potential producers for the album and decided that following their first two records working alongside well renowned metal producer 'Bill Owens', they wanted to try something a little different this time around and opted to bring in one of their long-time friends 'Cara Zayn' to help produce the album alongside the three members of the band, the decision was not an easy one to make according to lead singer Koda, “I believe that working with Bill is one of the main reasons why things took off so quickly for us. The crispness of those first two records is what made them what they are and without his knowledge in the recording booth I don't think they'd have sounded anywhere near as good. But having worked alongside him during those two albums, he taut us so much about what goes into producing an album and I think we wanted our third album to be pretty self-sufficient and decided that we would try to produce the entire thing ourselves. We brought in our friend Cara who has always had a part to play in helping us reach fans. We grew up together and she used to promote any local gig we played as teenagers, so it's great to have a familiar face alongside us in the booth, but the main thing is that this is the band attempting to step out and do pretty much the whole thing on our own. She'll certainly help out along the way, but the majority of the workload is coming from myself and my band mates.”
And with that, the band returned in January 2017 and began recording songs written during their downtime and began coming up with new songs to add to an ever growing list of potential tracks. One of the first complete tracks is their lead single and the title track from the album called, “War Wounds”. The group opting to put this one out first as it's a good transition from the previous era to their new era and as they felt the song was a good indicator of where they are at in terms of ideas, themes and inspiration for the album.
As previously noted, “War Wounds” will serve as the lead single and the title track from their upcoming third studio album, with the music being composed entirely by the four members of the band in a collaborative effort. Lyrics were penned by both lead vocalist Koda Espinosa and lead guitarist Beau Nero and production was helmed by both Penetralia and Cara Zayn. The track will be released as a CD Single, Digital Download, 7” Single and will be made available to Airplay on April 28, 2017 and will be distributed through 'Songs to Love and Die By' records.
Description;
The song begins with drummer 'Jonah Espinosa' tapping his drum sticks together four times which immediately signals aggression and power into the song, lead guitarist and bassist 'Beau Nero' and 'Gunner Lee' giving that power and immediate weight to the song, quickly followed by Jonah's incessant drum beats before Koda delivers the opening lyrics in his instantly recognizable voice, high-pitched and angry, “War wounds and scars, tearing open fragile hearts/Picture the scene, in the dead of night/Standing alone by candlelight/You say the words that cut straight through my veins/Everything I’ve wished that you would just say/But somehow darling, that’s just not enough/I wish I could tell you that this has been so rough/To watch from the sidelines/As you play true love/When deep in my heart I know it’s not true/You’re supposed to be with me/And I’m supposed to be forever with you.” and it quickly becomes clear that the war that Koda is singing about is more directed to the war of love rather than the literal sense, once more seemingly putting his heart on his sleeve for his art.
Following the first verse, the aggression amps up even further as Koda screams and roars against the backdrop of clashing guitars and pounding drums, “Fuck all of this pretending and playing!/It’s taken its toll!/From all the nights of not saying!/That you should throw everything you’ve built with him!/Throw it all to the fucking wolves!/And come home with me!/The way it’s meant to be!.” as Koda sings from the perspective of a guy that has been on the sidelines for too long and bottled up his feelings to save the heart of someone else, eventually though those feelings are shown passionately and frustratingly as he feels like he can't just sit back and smile while the person that he loves is with the person that they're not meant to be with.
And we're delivered the chorus, as the music immediately and a little abruptly softens and Koda pushes forward melody as opposed to absolute aggression as he sings softly in order to get people to understand what he's been dealing with on the inside, “See I have all of these war wounds/From always being there for you/And I won’t change the love that I have for you/I’ll never walk away and you know that to be true/I’ll never fucking leave you/Even if it means living in pain/Knowing that you’re loving him over and over again.” and a brief rhythm guitar instrumental sets up a brief verse which continues in the same vein as the chorus, again highlighting a little of that tenderness “The whispers in the dark/I know all of your struggles/But not once have I used that to get the upper hand/I’ve seen the love you both have/And I encourage it/But I just need you to know/That it makes me feel like shit.” and it breaks down during the final line there as Koda's voice cracks a little before erupting into that aggressive breakdown pre-chorus once more to end the song.
Lyrics;
“War wounds and scars, tearing open fragile hearts
Picture the scene, in the dead of night
Standing alone by candlelight
You say the words that cut straight through my veins
Everything I’ve wished that you would just say
But somehow darling, that’s just not enough
I wish I could tell you that this has been so rough
To watch from the sidelines
As you play true love
When deep in my heart I know it’s not true
You’re supposed to be with me
And I’m supposed to be forever with you
Fuck all of this pretending and playing!
It’s taken its toll!
From all the nights of not saying!
That you should throw everything you’ve built with him!
Throw it all to the fucking wolves!
And come home with me!
The way it’s meant to be!
See I have all of these war wounds
From always being there for you
And I won’t change the love that I have for you
I’ll never walk away and you know that to be true
I’ll never fucking leave you
Even if it means living in pain
Knowing that you’re loving him over and over again
The whispers in the dark
I know all of your struggles
But not once have I used that to get the upper hand
I’ve seen the love you both have
And I encourage it
But I just need you to know
That it makes me feel like shit
Fuck all of this pretending and playing!
It’s taken its toll!
From all the nights of not saying!
That you should throw everything you’ve built with him!
Throw it all to the fucking wolves!
And come home with me!
The way it’s meant to be!”
Personnel;
Koda Espinosa – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, lyrics, composition, production
Beau Nero – lead guitar, lyrics, composition, production
Gunner Lee – bass guitar, backing vocals, composition, production
Jonah Espinosa – drums, percussion, composition, production
Cara Zayn – production, engineering, mixing |
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