THE GODDAMNED (Promo 2002) MCD-R
Unfortunately, this Swedish band is a typical case of not really good but no total crap as well. We call this: mediocre to the bone! With this promo CD-R THE GODDAMNED are presenting us three tracks of the actual debut full-length. Everything sounds heavy, and one can recognize influences as Motörhead, Death Row/Pentagram, and especially the third track "God Damn" starts exactly as "Sign Of the Wolf (Pentagram)" and I can discover more Victor Griffin-influenced in the other songs, too.
I think, the singer should smoke more cigarettes and drink more hard stuff, to become a more authentic voice, although he's one the best way. The musicianship is very solid, but I miss the forceful ideas and more orginality to stand out of the mass of heavy metallic r'n'r bands, nowadays. That's the reason, why I call the quality of the included three songs average, but I won't deny that they are playing passionate and authentic. And maybe, they aren't damned to be just a small footnote in heavy rock, and the album offers more variety. If you can't get enough of the Swedish heavy underground, check out THE GODDAMNED homepage, where you can order the album, too.
(KK)