Damlet!

You know how new bands are frequently described as "a mixture of thisband and thatband," when in fact newband sounds little like thisband or thatband, because they're really ripping off otherband? As writers trying to get across what we think we are hearing in music, we have a fairly limited assortment of semantic tools at our disposal, particularly when it comes to heavy music. Over time, adjectives became outdated, overused, meaningless, and comparisons become stale. As a consequence, writers have been playing with all sorts of evasive techniques, sometimes circling around the music like hungry wolves, acting aloof, but tearing into it as soon as they have established their dominance, sometimes probing it with a long pole, only to retreat when it threatens to overwhelm them. Sometimes it's all trial and sometimes all error, passionate at best, perfunctory at worst. I'm sure you all have read reviews or articles that provided next to no information about what the artist in question actually sounds like, as well as pieces of writing oozing with so much admiration that you were inclined to categorically disbelief the writer.

I'll admit it, I like name-dropping. I hope to one day figure out a way to be able to organize my records as if they were a map of associations, because that's what it looks like when I think about the different sounds bands create, because sound is more enduring than adjectives. In the end, though, you're best off trusting your own ears.

Now that we've established that, here's an absolute exception - a band that sounds exactly like a mixture of thisband and thatband and it's a total treat to boot. Take equal parts Bloodlet and Damnation a.d. and what you get is Bloodnation, a one time only collaboration of the core members of the two bands - two vocalists, two guitarists, two bassists and drums. As far as I know they recorded only one song, 'Flesh of Another,' released in 1995 on the Squirrel comp. 7" out on Level Records. As you will hear, it really sounds like they just split the writing duties down the middle in the studio. Also featured on the comp. are songs by Tuscadero, Chisel and Frodus, but none are as memorable as this one. If you've never really listened to either of these bands, I highly recommend that you get a hold of Bloodlet's Eclectic and Entheogen records (on Victory) and Damnation a.d.'s No more dreams of happy endings (on Jade Tree) and then work your way forward from there. Perhaps I'll post some more out-of-print Damnation a.d. stuff at some later time, but for now, here's Bloodnation!

Bloodnation - Flesh of Another