WARNING – this review is written by a psychopathic dudette, prolific rager of all things Damned, it is a hill I will die on.
So, it has been a glorious forty -six years since the debut ‘Damned, Damned, Damned’ and here we are basking in the dead of night, as ‘Darkadelic’ forces envelop us and wrap their icy tendrils around our souls. After tackling ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ our intrepid heroes come face to face – well sort of – with ‘The Invisible Man’ cackling maniacally at 2.46 after concocting a potion to evaporate your presence and move unnoticed amongst the unsuspecting. Re-live the movies with these musical interpretations of the cinema, a medium that allows for mutually beneficial artistic trading.
The Damned are Dave Vanian – vocals, Captain Sensible – guitar, Paul Gray – bass, Monty Oxymoron – keyboards and Will Taylor on drums, life has not always been kind to them, but consider their peers, not as candescent as The Damned, they seem to have veered off into the sunset, while these guys emerge from that twilight to rise to glory.
The album takes aim at everyone and everything that is wrong with the world, the main perpetrators seen in ‘Leader Of The Gang’ and ‘Beware Of The Clown’ look at politics and abuse, the day when Glam stopped rocking.
Take your corpse bride by the hand and engage in a little skeletal samba to ‘Wake The Dead’
eerily inspired by the Gothic, the crepuscular, the dusk infused desires that haunt and taunt you.
The spotlight is on the world of social media – I see you rolling your eyes – it has taken over everything, there is no feeling, draining the blood from our bodies, just ‘Follow Me’ and relish all the likes. The vampirical cause and effect come in to play, an essential part of the band for me, the imagery, the history and the aesthetic all make for a perfect tapestry to set their music too. Abundantly tuneful, guitars a-plenty, keys that trip the light fantastic, all dark and dreamy, while Dave whispers sweet nothings in your ear, oh my….
Finishing with probably my favourite track here we have everyone’s delightfully deranged uncle ‘Roderick’ being let out for the night, his cadaver cruising surreptitiously through the ether, the music uplifting yet unyielding, pain and displeasure entwined, as we commiserate the fall of the house of Usher.
I would challenge you to switchblades at dusk, but I’m busy having some quiet time while I spontaneously combust.
Azra Pathan
The Damned – Darkadelic out now