Sacramento deathcore band Saltwound have released the standalone single Pound Of Flesh, featuring Mugshot vocalist Ringo Waterman, following their 2024 debut album The Temptation Of Pain.
by Paul Cashmere
California deathcore band Saltwound have released Pound Of Flesh, a new standalone single featuring Ringo Waterman of Mugshot. The track is accompanied by a music video and follows the release of Saltwound’s debut album The Temptation Of Pain in November 2024. The new recording continues the Sacramento band’s development of a sound built around deathcore and metalcore, while bringing Waterman into the track for a guest vocal performance.
Pound Of Flesh marks Saltwound’s first new standalone release following The Temptation Of Pain, which established the band’s full-length catalogue after a series of independently released EPs. The new song was issued through SharpTone Records and extends the band’s increasingly confrontational approach to heavy music.
The track is driven by low-tuned guitar riffs, dense rhythmic passages and an aggressive vocal delivery. Waterman’s contribution adds another vocal presence to the recording, connecting Saltwound’s Sacramento scene with Mugshot’s own strain of contemporary heavy music.
Saltwound vocalist Spencer Timmons described the song as an examination of the way people can attempt to take something from others, whether through affection, proximity or hostility.
“Everybody just wants to take a chunk out of you for themselves,” Timmons said. “Those who profess to love you want a piece to legitimize themselves by proximity, while those who hate you just want whatever they can carve out of you for the sake of spite. Some days I honestly prefer the people that hate me more; at least there’s an innate honesty there.”
The accompanying video reinforces the song’s abrasive character without changing its central focus on the band’s performance and the intensity of the recording.
Saltwound’s catalogue dates back to 2020, when the band released the EP Vol. 1: (DEAD)WEIGHT independently. That release established the band’s short-form approach, with six tracks delivered across less than 16 minutes. The follow-up, Vol. 2: Despair, appeared in July 2022 and expanded the band’s catalogue with seven tracks.
In September 2023, Saltwound released In The Shadow Of The Valley Of Death, their third EP. The release included Shadows Remain, The Company You Keep and The Negative, Pt. 2. A video for Shadows Remain accompanied the EP.
The band’s first full-length album, The Temptation Of Pain, was announced in September 2024 and released on November 1 that year. The 10-track record included We All Burn, Blight, Empty From The Start, Circle The Drain, The Temptation Of Pain, Hollow, Walking The Blade, The Righteous Hand, Ensnared and Severance. Nick Chance appeared as a guest on Severance.
The album followed a period of increased touring activity. Saltwound supported Maylene And The Sons Of Disaster during a North American tour in May 2024, with Islander and Limbs also on the bill. Later that year, the band joined The Last Ten Seconds Of Life for a North American tour alongside CELL, Sabella and Frail Body.
The Temptation Of Pain was described by Timmons as a “back to form” moment for Saltwound, while the band continued developing the material that had been established through its earlier EPs. Singles and videos for Hollow, Severance, Walking The Blade and Empty From The Start helped introduce the album before its release.
Pound Of Flesh places Saltwound back into the spotlight with a recording that is separate from the album cycle rather than a new full-length project. The collaboration with Waterman also provides a direct link between two contemporary heavy acts, while keeping Saltwound’s established approach at the centre of the recording.
The band will next take Pound Of Flesh into the live environment on the Death Coast ’26 North American tour with Cultist in late August. The tour provides Saltwound with its next run of dates following the release of the new single and video.
Pound Of Flesh is available now through SharpTone Records.
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