Write of me what you will

I wasn’t going to post any more Damnation a.d. yet, but I’m having some problems with my audio set-up, so I have to work with what I have. No loss to you, though.

Initially, Damnation a.d. was just Ken Olden of Battery (and later Better than a Thousand), who more or less single-handedly recorded the songs ‘Damnation’ and ‘On a pale horse,’ released as a 7” on Tidal in 1994. He was later joined by Mike McTernan, brother of Battery singer and recording engineer Brian McTernan, on vocals, and Hillel Holloway, Greg Merchlinsky and Dave Ward on guitar, bass and drums, respectively.

Following this release were a 7” on the infamous Lost & Found label (‘The Hangman’ b/w ‘Sleep’), a split 7” with Walleye on Jade Tree (‘In the flesh’) and a split 7” with Dead Beat on Stillborn that featured a cover of The Cure’s ‘Cold.’ Except for the songs from the splits, all others were later re-recorded or released as live songs on No more dreams of happy endings, Misericordia (Jade Tree) and their Revelation Records debut Kingdom of Lost souls.

Lyrically, as you might expect, ‘Damnation’ is sort of a theme song, while its B-side ruminates on the loss of meaning in the face of adversity and lies. Here, as in many of their later lyrics, they take a minimalist and very personal approach to the writing, which can consequently be interpreted in any way you please:

Lost your job/ girlfriend/ winning lottery ticket? “All I want is to understand/ why everything good melts like ice in my hand.”

Tired of other people taking advantage of your rolodex/ math homework/ Samaritan instincts? “I’m your drug I’m what you need to survive/ abuse me, when you’re done throw me aside.”

Your friends/ baseball heroes/ financial adviser disappointed you? “Everyone seemed so perfect/ but they all fell down.”

No one understands you? “My words are spit back at me.”

So life’s never going to get any easier? “Eternity is forever.”

Okay, Shakespearean ‘tis not. But in the context of the re-emergence of Straight Edge and its militant outgrowths in the early and mid nineties, you could also look at Damnation as a reality check for ‘the kids,’ i.e. the burgeoning hardcore scene. As such, it represents the flip-side to Battery’s go-getter posi-core – if they were dates, you would want Battery to be the one to introduce to your parents, while secretly hooking up with Damnation for hot sex and knife play.

That goes for the music as much as for the lyrics – they don’t try to please, but instead use simple building blocks and compositional arcs to arrive at a narrative whole. The result is brooding, contemplative music, with a consistent pulse but internal fractures that repeatedly threaten to cause the music to fall apart. “Throw in the towel or continue to suffer.” Continue they did, but it wasn’t until Misericordia and especially Kingdom that they more fully embraced Rock’n’Roll elements in their songs, giving them the coherence they often lacked before, but also sacrificing that elementary sense of desperation in the songwriting. As they say, I like their old stuff better. However, you should of course find and buy all of it.

Damnation a.d. - Damnation
Damnation a.d. – On a pale horse
Damnation a.d. – In the flesh
Damnation a.d. - Sleep
Damnation a.d. - Cold