For all fans of the grooving L.A. metal-style the end of the year brings another highlight. DAMNED NATION as the Swedish answers to Extreme release their long-expected fourth album Sign Of Madness. Many times delayed, but shortly before falling into oblivion, here we go:
And again, the four-piece around guitar-hero Robert Warnqvist serve a bunch of heavily rocking tracks Contrasting many of the release we are used to from hard rock-area, DAMNED NATION burst the frame, because of bass-accented swinging guitars. Hence, we’ve got a gripping, as not to say evil touch. A dramatic we partly know from progressive metal bands like Fate’s Warning. And what’s more, they totally avoid cheesy ballad-sounds. In Still Alive they obviously take back speed, but it is more a vicious flow supported by pulsating double-bass than sentimental romanticism. On the other hand, one must not expect innovation of this genre. Probably it is, because the guitar-friendly tunes and Warnqvist‘s in exchangeable favorite riff, why Sign Of Madness sounds like one 45 minutes song after at its third turn and no songs rests in one’s mind. Some moments to relax every now and then, but nevertheless it’s left to the die-hard fans of the métier to feel enthusiastic about it.