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The Swedish band Damned Nation have been active over a decade now but they have had several obstacles to overcome which may have prevented them from being recognized widely by the crowds. They have switched record companies a couple of times already and it passed four years between the release of their previous and third album "Grand Design" and this one. Now they have begun a, hopefully lasting, cooperation with the Italian label Scarlet Records. Another big change for the band is that they have parted with their long-time singer Thomas Thorsén who left as he became a father and was replaced by Matti Alfonzetti. Musically Damned Nation has been playing classic AOR / hard rock but this time they have opted for a slightly heavier sound that may alienate some of their older fans but as they are now being marketed by a metal label it shouldn't affect their sales and popularity that much.
These changes that Damned Nation have gone through lately also resulted in a rather unconventional choice of studio for the recording of this album. Behind the sharp sound lies Thomas Skogsberg who was eager to work with something different (for those of you who strangely enough don't know he is mostly known for dirtier hard rock and death metal productions) at his Sunlight Studio, making this a melodic hard rock / heavy metal album with a slightly sharper and more aggressive edge than most people are used to hearing. "Sign Of Madness" is a very even album made by a group of talented musicians. The song writing is decent but there is room for improvement if they want a real hit song which is necessary if you want to make it big which I have the feeling these guys are looking for. Definitely the heaviest album they have made so far. Just one thing, doesn't the main riff of "Bringer Of Light" remind a lot of Anvil's "Song Of Pain" from their latest album? "Sign Of Madness" is a good album that flows by nicely with plenty for the guitar lover to appreciate but in the end the same patterns return a little too often and everything feels expected and logical without surprises. The only real surprise is when a female vocalist kicks in at the end of the final track "Going Blind" but to be honest that was a rather unnecessary move, not because she is a bad singer but it didn't add anything at all to the song. I hope that Alfonzetti stays with the band though because he is doing a wonderful job here and both his voice and way of singing suits the band perfectly.
Fans of melodic hard rock / heavy metal with equally melodic vocal lines and sing-along hard rock choruses will definitely enjoy "Sign Of Madness". I have seen this album being compared to Evergrey in a review but that is definitely far from the truth.
| Tracklist |
| 1. Innocence |
| 2. Stranded |
| 3. Wall Of Illusion |
| 4. Consequences |
| 5. Bringer Of Light |
| 6. Sign Of Madness |
| 7. Facing The Enemy |
| 8. Human Sacrifice |
| 9. Still Alive |
| 10. Wake Up |
| 11. Slave |
| 12. Going Blind |
: 43.52
| Buy other Damned Nation albums |
