Damnation is a young band from The Netherlands. The foursome consist of teenagers who’ve formed the band out of a passion for classic old school Death Metal, the way it was done in the late eighties/early nineties. Over the past few months, they’ve made quite the impression on the Dutch Metal scene and shown that they’re a force to be reckoned with. They’ve scored themselves a slot to be the opener of the legendary Dynamo Metal Fest, as winners of the Dynamo Metal Battle and they were co-headlining the newfound Delly Deathfest the weekend after. Clearly, there’s potential to be found here. Just before their show at Dynamo Metal Fest, Damnation released their debut full-length ‘Reign of the Undead’ without the support of a major label. Although there was some interest from underground labels to put out ‘Reign of the Undead’, the band chose to keep their cards close to their chest and do this on their own, at least for now.
The actual album itself is a decent slab of old school inspired Death Metal, true to the current hype that is going on. Damnation, however, have a slight twist of their own to spice up their tunes. That spice is groove. I’ve already talked about how young these guys are, and that might fool some readers to believe that their music therefore must be ridden with either Suicide Silence, Korn or Lamb of God influences. Fortunately, such assumptions are false. The kind of groove that is on display here is more akin to what Gorefest used to be famous for back in the day. These guys have a love for records that came out some three decades ago and the aim of Damnation is therefore to create music that feels like a continuation of that.
Another noteworthy aspect of Damnation’s sound is their fat and unpolished sound. The drums were recorded with help from Marco Prij (Cryptosis) at his studio. The result being, drums that deliver punch without sounding polished and feeling very organic. The guitars feel fat and very rich with low-end rumblings. The riffs itself shift between, as said, groove to fast paced tremolo sections. The leads are of sufficient taste and technicality, but on the record they sound rather loose and detached from the rhythm section, which is my biggest complaint.
All in all, Damnation is a upcoming Death Metal from the north of the Netherlands that play true to the genre’s originators, albeit it somewhat more tapered to acts that emphasize groove. ‘Reign of the Undead’ is a solid debut and worth checking out, especially if you like Gorefest, Broken Hope and early Six Feet Under. It is available and promoted by the band itself, so it is likely you’ve missed it. Be sure to check it out and show support the youngsters that keep the old flame alight! If it were up to these kids, Death Metal will never die…
