Album: Ironiclast
Year: 2010
Rating: 84/100
Supergroups are always a tricky beast. There's no middle ground with them; more often than not; they're either absolutely outstanding or they end up being little more than a chaotic mess. Luckily for the listener, The Damned Things fall into the former category.
Boasting Joe Trohman and Andy Hurley from Fall Out Boy (yes, really), Anthrax axe men Scott Ian and Rob Caggiano, and topped off with the melodious yet throaty holler of Keith Buckley from Every Time I Die, the Damned Things play a hedonistic blend of beer party hardcore punk coupled with plenty of rock and roll swagger and thunderous heavy metal riffs. Album opening track "Handbook For the Recently Deceased" kicks things off with the subtlety of a brick to the face, but catches the listener pleasantly off guard with its massive sing-along chorus.
While the Damned Things are solid from a musical perspective, their secret weapon is Keith Buckley. Having only sung sparingly on Every Time I Die's earlier efforts, he really steps up his game here. On "We've Got A Situation Here" and "The Blues Havin' Blues" he brings the screamed vocals back into play, whereas on "Little Darling" and "Friday Night (Going Down in Flames)" he delivers his best cleanly sung vocal performance on record to date.
The Damned Things as a collective unit tick all the right boxes for a supergroup. Their songs have an excellent cohesion to them, and the musicianship is superb. If that works for you, give them a look.
Track List
1. Handbook For the Recently Deceased
2. Bad Blood
3. Friday Night (Going Down in Flames)
4. We've Got A Situation Here
5. Black Heart
6. A Great Reckoning
7. Little Darling
8. Ironiclast
9. Graverobber
10. The Blues Havin' Blues
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