Damaged Goods - "Terminal" Review

Friends like to support friends. And very fortunately, I have a lot of very talented friends. And look at Terminal", shows the band has only gotten stronger. The recording is once again incredibly solid. All the instruments are loud and perfectly balanced and pummeling. The drums are bone breaking, and the guitars have this super crunchy distortion that's like putting nails through a meat grinder. The recording is a lot more bassy this time around too, it's crushing. The range of influence on "Terminal" also differs from the demo in a few ways. There was a big hardcore punk sound that I picked up on, mostly in the chord progressions and tone of the guitars. There was grind/powerviolences too, but it wasn't totally up front. On here, the band is faster, and way heavier. Less hardcore punk and way more brutal break your face-core. I can pick up on as much Iron Lung or The Endless Blockade as I can bands like Full of Hell, Harms Way or Nails. Which naturally, makes way for some absolutely crushing breakdowns, like in the tracks "Disguise" and "Permanent Solution". It's an absolutely slammer of an EP, and one of the best I've heard this year. This should hopefully be coming out on vinyl soon too, so keep your eyes peeled for that.
that, I am able to share them with all you hundreds of people and tell you how awesome they are. Brilliantly convenient. If you don't know the NJ duo/now trio band Damaged Goods, I gotta say you're kinda sorta missing out on hearing the best young band that I can think of. And when I say young, I mean it. All members are but 17 years old now, but they play tough powerviolence/hardcore like they were born with it in their veins. They dropped a very impressive demo last year, and this first proper EP, "

Rating: 9/10

~VII

Bandcamp Artist Of The Week: Dethroned Emperor

New Jersey's in the houseeeeee! I'm glad I can finally talk about this band, because I've been a fan of them for a while, but never found the opportunity to properly do a write-up. Dethroned Emperor are an unholy duo from New Brunswick, NJ, and are on the cusp of releasing their first full length record, "Moral Nihility". Deathgrind in the most literal sense of the word, these guys fully embrace any and all OSDM influence into their sound, creating a hybrid of the genre that you don't really hear that often, or executed quite as well. Imagine the bastard child of Incantation and Assück, who has heard his fair share of bestial metal, but learned some technical guitar chops too. If any of that sounds appealing to you, listen to this ASAP. Definitely their best stuff to date, in terms of recording and songcraft. Raise those horns(if you're into that, I don't know..)!

~VII

Bandcamp Artist Of The Week: Damaged Goods

This is a long long long long LONG overdue post. This here demo from Damaged Goods, my homies from NJ, is a top-notch, excellent, mosh-pit-bloodbath-inducing piece of hardcore. Professionally recorded and played by two young kids with the utmost knowledge and respect for hardcore and powerviolence of all kids, and it definitely shows; the songs on here showcase influences ranging from the discordant(Irong Lung, big influence on the riffs), to the beatdown. Fans of bands like Punch, Spazz, and the previously mentioned Iron Lung should definitely listen to this. These guys play a lot of shows, and hopefully will be recording later this year. Keep a look out, best young band going right now! Be sure to follow them on their Facebook too.

~VII