{"id":437837,"date":"2026-05-21T05:18:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T05:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/437837\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T05:18:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T05:18:08","slug":"salem-red-dragon-album-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/437837\/","title":{"rendered":"Salem: Red Dragon Album Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

In so many ways, the mid-2020s have just been a speedrun of the late aughts. A looming recession, neon pop-punk<\/a> in the mainstream, the word \u201celectroclash\u201d appearing in press releases, and now Salem<\/a> once again inching out of the shadows. Except this time around, the Michigan witch house sorcerers might actually claim the limelight. The same day they dropped a money-printing merch collab with Supreme that had Fred Durst reacting in the comments<\/a>, Salem surprise-released Red Dragon, a new compilation of music that old fans mostly already know. The 31-track, 101-minute tome assembles many of the leaks and loosies that have been circulating on unofficial YouTube accounts since the early 2010s, and it tacks on four new songs that could easily scan as aged rarities.<\/p>\n

For the chronically inactive trio-turned-duo of Jack Donoghue and John Holland, a career retrospective like Red Dragon feels tactically timed. It\u2019s been six years since 2020\u2019s Fires in Heaven<\/a>, the good-not-great follow-up to their immortal 2010 debut, King Night<\/a>. Salem have barely done anything since then, but their sound and aesthetic are prominent as ever. Electro-pop breakouts like Snow Strippers<\/a> and Slayyyter<\/a> are jacking their Midwest dirtbag swag, while Sematary, Ghost Mountain<\/a>, and their Haunted Mound<\/a> emo-rap covenant faithfully worship King Night\u2019s cursed sound. Much like how the Supreme collection adds Salem\u2019s subterranean style to the closets of Depop posers, Red Dragon functions as a gallery of their rarest music for newcomers to gaze upon.<\/p>\n

No score yet, be the first to add.<\/p>\n

Most of the archival material on Red Dragon seems to date back to Salem\u2019s prolific early years between their 2006 formation and their 2010 breakthrough. The best songs in the batch reiterate that, for all the coattail riders they\u2019ve collected over the last 20 years, no one\u2019s ever successfully beaten Salem at their own game. The track \u201cTent\u201d was performed at their infamous Fader Fort set<\/a> 16 years ago, but the way Donoghue\u2019s pitched-down pleas for deliverance blur into the narcotic trap beat still sounds like a transmission from an unrealized future. \u201cKin\u201d is another near-vintage song that remains tremendously singular. The 2008 track, created the same year as Salem\u2019s similar sounding Water<\/a> EP, is a hybrid of ghastly shoegaze and nod-off trap that no one in shoegaze\u2019s ongoing renaissance has even tried to build upon. They\u2019d fail if they did.<\/p>\n

For all the ways in which Red Dragon celebrates Salem\u2019s enduring appeal, it\u2019s also a reminder of what they’re now missing. A couple of the compilation\u2019s standout songs contain vocals from ex-member Heather Marlatt, who appeared to<\/a> acrimoniously split with the band prior to Fires in Heaven. \u201cRed Dragon,\u201d the full version of a snippet that was teased over a decade ago, and \u201cWithoutu,\u201d an anemic cover of the Cranberries<\/a>\u2019 \u201cWhen You\u2019re Gone<\/a>,\u201d both feature Marlatt\u2019s phantasmic croons. Her creepy-doll incantations, juxtaposed with Donoghue’s zombified raps, have been missing in all of Salem\u2019s music since her departure, including the four new tracks on Red Dragon: \u201cEveryday,\u201d \u201cBlood Brothers,\u201d \u201cDrive by,\u201d and \u201cDaughter.\u201d Salem\u2019s usual tincture of foggy-eyed synths, hollowed-out trap claps, and Holland\u2019s anesthetic wails are all intact, but, much like the aimless side-B of Fires in Heaven, these songs are lacking the debauched personality and crepuscular aura of Salem\u2019s early years.<\/p>\n

Red Dragon is both a blessing and a letdown. It\u2019s the most Salem music we\u2019ve ever received at once, nearly doubling their officially sanctioned discography overnight and unsheathing a bunch of gems that most casual fans have probably never heard. The record\u2019s many high points underscore why Salem\u2019s foreboding sound and freaked atmosphere are still so enticing to mimic, but its gratuitous length also reveals the limits of their abilities. For every two flashes of brilliance there\u2019s another track that just sounds like an unfinished instrumental, or a new cut that shrivels at the feet of the old ones.<\/p>\n

Distance has always been one of Salem\u2019s central appeals. Between their compact catalog and their limited public presence, the band always left you feeling like they had something more to say. The less you knew about them\u2014the less you heard by them\u2014the more mystical their dark lore and drugged-out music became. Now, by hawking hypebeast wares and gussying up their leaks for DSPs, Salem are making themselves more visible than ever. Coming from one of the last great millennial mysteries, Red Dragon throws open the chest of guarded treasures, but at what cost?<\/p>\n