aaamusic | On 13, Jun 2010

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London, 10th June

The Damned Things debuted in London last Wednesday and, while most of the metalheads of the city were already on their way to the Download Festival, the remaining few headed down to The Borderline in order to check out the new band.

“New”, after three years in the making, The Damned Things (TDT) hit the road attracting fans from different eras and backgrounds. In fact, TDT comprises members of three well-known super groups: Every Time I Die (Keith Buckley on vocal and Josh Newton on bass guitar); Anthrax (Scott Ian and Rob Caggiano on guitars) and Fall Out Boys (Joe Trohman on guitar and Andy Hurley on drums)

I arrived to the Crow bar (one of the most popular metal pubs in central London) where I was glad to notice that there was no superstar aura around, when I spotted Scott Ian and Rob Caggiano happily chatting to fans in front of the pub: a combination of old fashioned metal heads and a more recent generation of emo kids.

The Borderline is the perfect venue for intimate performances, and it was an honour to be present at TDT’ debut show (especially if I think that their second UK show will be at the Download Festival, a completely different experience). The band seemed perfectly at ease and relaxed in front of an audience eager to find out more about the sound of the group.

The only preview that fans around the world had, were a couple of tracks (We’ve Got A Situation Here and Ironiclast) that the band released a few weeks back on their MySpace page: a fusion of classic rock delivered with heavy metal intensity – as already described by many listeners.

To my ears, there was more metal than rock in the air! Surprisingly so as I didn’t know what to expect from the merge of the sounds from Fall Out Boys, with heavier Every Time I Die and the masters: Anthrax.

TDT is definitely a guitar band. Not only they have three (!!) excellent guitarists on stage; their sound is clearly driven by riffs and solos, while perfectly connected to Buckley’s vocals and matched to the powerful bass lines and heavy drums.

Opening with Ironiclast, the band set the atmosphere and met expectations straightaway; delivering a tune that comprised both melodic hardcore and classic rock elements. They went on playing Excellent Time and Bad Blood.

The then moved into the mind blowing A Great Reckoning, which Scott Ian’s himself defined as “(a song that) reminds me everyday why I got into rock music in the first place.” To follow were Handbook for the Recently Deceased, Black Heart, Quicksand’s cover Fazer, and Grave Robber.

The grand finale was We’ve Got a Situation Here, which Trohman depicts as having: sludgy riffs, catchy chorus, a tempo change breakdown, and some leads/solos. Basically, the perfect song to represent The Damned Things’ sound.

Buckley wrapped up the gig inviting all the fans to join the band for drinks at the next door pub, while Ian thanked all for “coming to listen to a band that you don’t even know how it sounded like!”

I, instead, would like to add that: it doesn’t matter if you are into Fall Out Boy, Anthrax or Every Time I Die. The Damned Things is quality. So, if you like to be surprised, try and go seeing them before their debut album will be released next fall.

Author: Laura Delnevo

Photos: Laura Delnevo