Earlier this year, my band, Salem’s Childe, signed a deal with Pavement Entertainment that will see our upcoming record, “The Sin That Saves You,” being released and distributed globally through Sony’s The Orchard.
Since then, despite the pandemic, we’ve been busy trying to get everything in place that has to happen for a release like this, not least of which includes getting music videos put together.
The lead single and title track of the record, released on September 11, 2020, along with the accompanying music video. The video applies the lyrics of the song to the veteran suicide crisis, and attempts to give a look inside the mind of a combat veteran struggling with PTSD and suicidal thoughts. The video features former US Army Sergeant Mathieu Householder, and was conceptually collaborated on by retired US Army Staff Sergeant Scott Pretorius. Both men served combat tours as Infantry, and like many Soldiers, while they may have left the battlefield, in many ways the battlefield hasn’t left them, and probably never will.
The lyrics of the song speak about internal struggle while holding onto the idea that even in darkness there must be light, there must be hope, and that sometimes that means embracing the negative as way to effect something positive. In the case of their application to the video, it pretty pointedly identifies combat troops as a necessary evil that most people are unwilling to acknowledge as such. It also points to the idea that while suicide is generally considered a “sin” in US culture and society, for those who seek it out it becomes the only that frees them, and thus “saves” them.
The music video for “The Sin That Saves You” can be viewed on the band’s YouTube channel, and is embedded below:
The band followed up the music video with a short video in which Matt and Scott speak about the meaning of the music video, and what they hope it accomplishes. That video, also on the band’s YouTube channel, is embedded here:
The record itself, a 12-track full-length record that’s described as a “not-a-concept-album concept album” carries definite lyrical and musical themes that tell a loose narrative from start to finish.
“The Sin That Saves You” releases October 9, 2020, via Pavement Entertainment, and can be pre-ordered here: https://orcd.co/thesinthatsavesyou
The Sanctuary of the Storm 
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