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Damned (CD)
From the first second on, Damned lunges for the jugular, kicking into "Feed the Flames" and speeding through 11 more tracks in under 35 minutes. Songs hover around the two- to three-minute mark, cramming the perfect blend of old Swedish kängpunk, anarcho-crust, chunky Stockholm death metal, and, of course, Motörhead into short, purposeful blasts. The only real wild card here is "Ride the Steel", a startlingly melodic number that starts out dark and brooding, building into the expected d-beaten frenzy, but then changes things up halfway through with an instrumental melodic break lifted straight out of the Gothenburg songbook. It's all very recent Disfear (lend an ear to "Get It Off" and you'll see what I mean). Who got their epic melodeath parts mixed up in my crust? Though a bit unexpected, the genre-bending departure works. Tracks like "From Beyond", "Peace of Mind", and the Motörhead-baiting "Catch 22" keep up the melodic edge, but without as much of the gloom. Happily, Wolfbrigade seem content to have kept the experimental moments to a minimum, using them as accents rather than uncomfortable focuses. The old boys know what they're doing, and they know how to do it well. Damned is another worthy addition to their rock-solid catalog, and will surely make a more than welcome addition to any metalpunk's record pile.
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