In my recent quest to discover as much quality D-beat/crust as possible (in part to Southern Lord’s recent releases by All Nails, Black Breath, Pigs Must Die, Acephalix, Dead in the Dirt, etc) two  names came up over and over again as a must listen band in the genre; Tragedy and their apparent European equivalent in Sweden’s veteran act Wolfbrigade (formerly known as Wolfpack). Well, I picked up some Tragedy CDs (Vengeance and Nerve Damage) and was impressed but also, lo and behold, Wolfbrigade drops  their brand new, fifth album, on Southern Lord no less.

Well, much like Tragedy I got exactly was I was expecting and hoping for; awesome, no frills d-beat/crusty hardcore/ metal with a nice mid range guitar tone and a feral levels of snarling energy. And as a bonus, Wolfbrigade manage to add some melodic solos and leads to the carnage, giving them just  a little more character amid the d-beat carnage.

Ultimately, Damned is still just a d-beat/crust record, so its got that inherent and somewhat predictable  Motorhead meets Discharge vibe with a added sense of innate Swede-death metal. It’s not going to change the world or sway fans. But what it does do in incur many moments of vicious and often rousing sonic carnage. The repetitive drum pattern of the genre is expectedly obtuse and carries a majority of the songs into enjoyable, intense waters as the likes of opener “Feed the Flames”, ” Slaves of Induction”, “Road to Dreams”  and the the blistering “On Your Knees… In Misery” display early and often.

The solos add some nice mood and melody to the proceedings  either injecting some cock rock sneer (“Catch 22”) or somber atmosphere to the mix (“Piece of Mind”, ‘From Beyond”) but always mindful of the genre, never taking things into realm un -d-beat like. Only the the slightly slower “The Curse of Cain” give in to more controlled, metallic march. Otherwise, the likes of “Hurricane Veins” , “From Beyond” and “Where No One Sleeps” are content to fulfill the desires of the most ardent crust fans.

 

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