''Salvation of Innocents'' is the eighth album by American

metalcore Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of ...

band

Earth Crisis Earth Crisis is an American hardcore punk band from Syracuse, New York, active from 1989 until 2001, reuniting in 2007. Since 1993 the band's longest serving members are vocalist Karl Buechner, lead guitarist Scott Crouse, bassist Ian Edwards ...

, released in March 2014 by

Candlelight Records Candlelight Records is a British record label based in England and founded by former Extreme Noise Terror bassist Lee Barrett, though it has had a division in the United States since January 2001. Candlelight Records specialises in black metal ...

. It is their first concept album about

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the sa ...

and anti-

vivisection Vivisection () is surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure. The word is, more broadly, used as a pejorative catch-all term for experiment ...

. Vocalist

Karl Buechner Karl Buechner (born December 23, 1970) is an American musician from Syracuse, New York, best known as the frontman for the hardcore punk, hardcore band Earth Crisis. He is also the singer of Freya (band), Freya, Path of Resistance, Vehement Sere ...

divided the theme into three parts throughout the album: the feelings of the protestors, the viewpoint of the vivisectionists, and what the animals are experiencing. A comic book of the Liberator series published by

Black Mask Studios Black Mask Studios is a comic book and graphic novel publishing company formed by Matt Pizzolo, Steve Niles and Brett Gurewitz, designed as a new infrastructure to support comic book creators and a new pipeline for transgressive art. Black Mask ...

was made in collaboration with the band and released simultaneously with ''Salvation of Innocents'', sharing similar conceptual ideas and artwork. On July 10, 2020, ''Salvation of Innocents'' was reissued on vinyl as a limited edition.

Critical reception

''Salvation of Innocents'' received positive reviews from music critics. Sam Mendez of

Ultimate Guitar Ultimate Guitar (Ultimate Guitar USA LLC), which is also known as Ultimate-Guitar.com or simply UG, is an online platform for guitarists and musicians. Its website and mobile application provides guitar tablature catalogues and chord sheets. UG ...

wrote that while musically the album did not stand out from the band's previous records, the decision to create a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

lyrically focused on one social issue made it worthwhile for animal rights activists as well as old and new listeners of Earth Crisis.

Track listing

Credits

; Personnel *

– vocals * Scott Crouse – guitar * Ian "Bulldog" Edwards – bass * Dennis Merrick – drums * Erick Edwards – guitar ; Technical personnel * Chris "Zeuss" Harris – mixing

References

{{Authority control 2014 albums Earth Crisis albums Candlelight Records albums Albums produced by Chris "Zeuss" Harris Concept albums