Album Review: Salem II by Salem (by Lara Roberts)

Salem are back after only a few months, with their second EP – Salem II. The first EP took me completely by surprise; as soon as I listened to it, I felt like I was 15 years younger. While the sound took me back to my (embarrassing) emo phase, the EP still felt new and exciting to me and I fell head over heels for it – Will Gould’s explosive vocals and dark lyrics mixed with fast tempo emo-pop melodies really ticked my boxes. I got tastes of My Chemical Romance, early Fall Out Boy, and a dash of Alkaline Trio. Plus, I was intrigued by the pairing – Will Gould from Creeper, and Matt Reynolds from Howard’s Alias?!

The second instalment builds on this mid-00s emo vibe, but it definitely has much grander ambitions than the first. The gothic imagery conjured up by the lyrics and the amped up dramatic atmosphere give this release an almost theatrical feel.

The title of the opening track, William, It Was Really Something, is a fun play on the title of The Smiths 1984 classic William, It Was Really Nothing. But that’s where the similarities seem to end – the Salem drums hitting much harder and the guitars a lot faster than Johnny Marr’s iconic 80s jangle. The immediate-ness of the song and singalong-ability is clear from the start, and it makes a fantastic opening track.

DRACULADS (another excellent title) begins with rolling drums, leading you to a melody and vocals that wouldn’t be out of place on American Idiot; it’s got multiple layers and sounds like it was made for a musical.

The punchy, catchy emo-pop continues with Keep The Thorns and Sweet Tooth, both calling on gothic imagery of altars, vampires, and descending deep into hell as you fall deeper into love (or lust, I’m not judging).

The EP comes to a strong close with Heaven Help Me. While the dark symbolism continues in the lyrics, musically the closing track lends itself more to punk rock than emo-pop. A fantastic ending to this cute, dark, fun, sexy EP.

I’ll admit – I expected more from this when I first listened to it. And the second, and third time (you can see where I’m going with this). But that’s only because the first EP was almost flawless to me. After revisiting this one a few weeks later, I don’t know why I was being so overly critical – Salem II is a natural progression from Salem. Just as The Black Parade was a natural progression from Three Cheers.

For fans of My Chemical Romance, (early) Fall Out Boy, Alkaline Trio, and the iconic emo fringe.

Stream and download Salem II here and like Salem on Facebook here.

This review was written by Lara Roberts.