Portuguese band We Are The Damned have done three albums prior to this one all apparently on Raging Planet Records based in their own country. Chances are therefore unless you live there it’s likely that they are as new to you as they are to me. Obviously in the three years since last album ‘Holy Beast’ they have managed to get the attention of Lifeforce Records and in doing so there is much more of a chance that their music is heard further afield. Good thing too as Doomvirate is rather a neat and vicious little bastard of a disc that deserves some sort of recognition.
Starting off with some austere and chilling soundtrack etched keyboard work it sounds like we are hearing an ode to the downfall of mankind. That’s all the good as the song is called ‘Ghastly Humans’ and when it violently ploughs in it has nothing but contempt for the human race. Scathing vocals, grinding riffs and a deathly bombast combine giving this a brutally honed exercise in aggression. Take elements of grind, death metal and a very hefty dollop of crust and that’s what you get here. I love the way the opening melody lurks in the background of this number giving it that apocalyptic vibe as the violence is unleashed. It’s not all full pelt either as the band slow it down and as the album title suggests add a bit of doom to their palate. On the whole though this monstrous opening track tears your head off and then promptly things burst into the next one ‘Dreams Under Surveillance’ Political and abrasive this goes like the clappers and reminds a bit of a head on clash between the likes of Napalm Death and Anaal Nathrakh and one wonders if someone should try and form a twin town alliance between Lisbon and Birmingham!
The ten songs don’t stick around or try to do anything too complicated, with the album honed down to a sweet 33 minute running time, just perfect to whip up a storm and blow off the cobwebs and last night’s hangover to. Believe you me it’s doing just this very effectively as I type this review up. It does at times sound like there are some sort of effects going on in the seething vocals from singer Ricardo Correia but if there are it just makes them all the more corrosive. There are some heavyset bellows provided backing up his more rasping parts at times too filling in the gaps and adding extra dimensions to the vitriolic turmoil. Drumming sounds like it is constantly on a mad dash to end up first past the post and the sense of urgency and drive to numbers like the cracking ‘Rain Of Spikes’ make them come across like mad pit monsters and make me wonder just how well this lot go down live (and having seen crowds in action at SWR festival in Portugal I can imagine they give it out large).
They allow a slight breather with a mid-point ranting sample which I really should recognise before romping off with the punky bombast of ‘Imposter’ and ripping off into the chaos again. Track title of the album goes to ‘Angelsick’ which creates a multi coloured image in my head and no doubt there’s some sort of Japanese fetish with that name but I’m not going searching for it right now. It buzzes in with a bit of feedback and launches itself at you in a rabid fashion, spewed out with plenty of disgust behind the vocals and a rough and tumbling musical thrust behind it. There’s even a beefy death grunt! The last song ‘Flight Of The Phoenix’ starts as did the album half an hour ago with another maudlin and funereal grey soundtrack part before tearing into us one last time and delivering violent retribution and wrapping it all up with another well placed sample.
There’s not any wasted space going on here and Doomvirate really delivers the goods and having done so fucks off knowing that it won’t be long before you come back to give it another spin. Hangover’s well and truly gone now, refreshed and recharged!
(8/10 Pete Woods)
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