Everything was better back then, everything was good.
Really?
Back then, a new music genre paved its way with hardcore. A genre that was groundbreaking.
Today's hardcore is mostly heavy sound from people who act tough (or actually are). However, the anger, energy, and uncompromising nature are often not as high as with the bands that belonged to the first waves of hardcore back then. The world keeps turning, that's just how it is, right?
But there are still bands that carry anger, energy, and uncompromising spirit within them. I'm specifically talking about a band from Sweden. About DAMAGE!
After various 7" releases on different labels, the band has decided to unleash their first album on humanity. It bears the wonderful name “Weapons of Mass Destruction” and looks heavily old school just from the cover. A drawn cover with many references to past and present dangers and feelings that weapons give to people. From an exploded bomb emerges a penis. Monkeys in suits holding a banana (a nice reference to Planet of the Apes or our behavior) are just as represented as the overall image of the Western world against the Asian world.
The ten songs on the CD are just how old school hardcore should be. Fast, energetic, and not inflated by effects or bombastic sound. The songs are blasted out like in the good old days. References include the combos of the first hardcore wave, such as Minor Threat, Bad Brains, Black Flag, or the Dead Kennedys. Ten songs in just over 14 minutes. That's all it takes to please and to say everything that needs to be said.
It's amazing that there are still bands that feel committed to the old sound and the old standards and do exactly what they want without being influenced by what's currently in.
DAMAGE does hardcore the way it should be.
