Dam-Age "Thirteen Bullets in My Head"

Self-Release/Independent
2018

Dam-Age is a thrash metal band from Ukraine, Kharkov whose line-up is unknown. The recently-released "Thirteen Bullets in My Head" seems to be the group's debut, but that is only a guess on my part. Seeing as there is little information to go by when it comes to these underground thrashers, Dam-Age could be a brand new act or one that has been around for awhile. Who really knows? Certainly not Facebook or the Metal Archives. They were no help when it came to the who, what, when, and where of this (wreck-inducing) merchants of metal. And I didn't have any luck with the time honored tradition of doing a "google search". So yeah, Dam-Age are a bit of a mystery. At any rate, one dollar is all that it costs to purchase this 4-track EP. In my eyes that it a steal. Here's why. With "Thirteen Bullets in My Head" you get this underground take on (early) Megadeth and it's all from a band that is (slightly) rough & raw around the edges. It's almost as if you were to take a really solid garage metal band and then you mixed in elements of  gripping thrash and vintage Megadeth. Whoever they are, the members of Dam-Age know what they are doing as far as songwriting and overall musicianship goes. The production is perfectly suited to this type of metal and there are no real complaints as far as the mix is concerned. Topped off by some sick lead vocals and great guitar solos, Dam-Age's new EP is a fun listen that lives up to it's wicked album art! To quote a line from 1987's Robocop, "I'd buy that for a dollar!".

Ungrace-Feed The Demons

Metal Scrap Records
2013


Have a craving for something fresh when it comes to your death metal? Are you bored with all of these bands who play things far too close to the chest for comfort? We all know the kind. They end up coming across as cookie-cuter versions of better bands from the past or even the present. That's where this Ukrainian group comes in. What makes them so different? Well, first off Ungrace was formed back in 2009 with their debut album, "Hostile Revival", being released the following year. While do Ungrace offer up brutalizing death metal it's intertwined with industrial metal. That might not being anything new in and off itself, but in addition to giving their death metal the industrialized once over it also comes with a side-dish of heavy as hell groove metal! That's not something you stumble onto everything day. When it comes to variety in the world of heavy metal (or in this case the world of death metal) there's always something new to be found, but it's kind of odd to find a band like this I'd argue. It all works though. Everything they utilize just gels together making this one more then just another stale death metal band. Worth checking out if you're looking for more then just another paint-by-numbers death metal outfit.