Some of the more underground-savvy extreme metal fans out there may recognise the name Condemned – these brutal, blood-soaked boys from Belfast have been plying their trade since 1993! After a stream of demos and EPs, line-up changes and set-backs, a fully fledged album has now been realised by these underground UK veterans.
Condemned play what they describe as `traumatising gore metal’ which is a deadly accurate description of what’s on offer here; ten tracks of terror-inducing, titanic tunes, if you left a steak by the speakers it would extremely tender after a blast of this album! The tunes on this album literally leap out of the speakers to bludgeon you mercilessly – however there is much more to this band than simple brutality, as you will discover...
The first thing that springs immediately to mind on a first brief listen is Cannibal Corpse, circa `The Bleeding’. It is a lazy comparison I admit, and mostly due to the production of the album, which has a similar feel to it to that seminal Cannibal Corpse album. It has that rather dry, up-front kind of sound that doesn’t have atmosphere as such, but comes at you with visceral aggression instead. There are some musical comparisons too with the `Corpse’ from that era – aside from an obvious influence on the music, these guys really know how to write a damn good song.
However, it would be a mistake to assume that this band is a carbon copy of another – Condemned have taken this kind of death metal and really made it their own. If I had a hat I would indeed doff it in their direction for not falling into the same trap as a lot of underground bands – as far as I can see Condemned do not follow any current trends, and instead have come up with some great ideas of their own. For example, there is a quite a technical element to the songs, but rather than following Brain Drill and their ilk, Condemned have used their technical skill to enhance the songs, rather than being the main point of the music – sometimes we are greeted with harsh, jarring and choppy rhythms, sometimes unusual, repetitive and hypnotic sections, and occasionally some expansive, atmospheric passages which really are unique.
Also flying in the face of current trends, this gore-soaked release is not ridiculously brutal and blasting all the way through, instead there are an abundance of heavy riffs (remember those?) and great, headbanging moments – enough to give any serious death metal fan a seizure. I balk at using the word `catchy’ but there are some great memorable moments throughout the album, and repeated listens yield more metal satisfaction! All this heaviness is topped off perfectly with Pete Clarke’s dark and guttural yet clear vocals – something even rarer in this age of indecipherable pig squeals (I know I sound like a grumpy old fart –there’s a reason for that!). A dying art indeed...
Condemned have every right to feel very pleased with themselves – this is a classy and enjoyable release, not to mention heavy, pummelling and neck-ache-inducing. Those that bemoan the state of the UK or Irish underground scenes could do a lot worse than get behind this lot, they deserve your attention.
http://www.myspace.com/condemneduk
http://www.condemned-uk.com/index2.htm
