Review by Shadowdoom9 (Andi) for Damaged - Purified in Pain (2000)

A few years after this Damaged album Purified in Pain was released was when the band met its final fate. They had suffered through lineup changes and conflicts over the years, but when founding member Matt "Skitz" Sanders ended up having health issues, the band ultimately called it quits. A couple years later, he attempted to reform the band with ex-vocalist James Ludbrooke, though legal troubles caused them to start a different band, Terrorust, which only lasted one album.

Purified in Pain is the only Damaged album without Ludbrooke. Taking his place was Kevin Sharp from New York's Brutal Truth, and that was at the time when his main band had its first split. His vocals have good strength and diversity, and you might think this would give the band more of the deathgrind/deathcore power they had in previous releases. Well the thing is, the production and songwriting is a bit inconsistent, bringing the quality back down between the band's two mid-90s releases, though closer to Passive Backseat Demon Engines than Do Not Spit. With that, several of the tracks are too weak for mention, but I'm up to mentioning the highlights...

The expansive influences start flying forward rapidly with the blackened riffing of "Broken" opening the gates. The deathly heaviness has greater effect in "Cyberwar". Then "Head Trauma" kicks a** with cohesive riffing, despite being sandwiched between a couple tracks in which the quality is more like half and half. The more deathcore side comes on with hardcore sections in "Conman". And again in "Breathe Deep" which truly shows the extreme/melodic blend deathcore has to offer.

The rest of Purified in Pain withers away from that greatness, losing some potential in the band's talent, despite Kevin Sharp giving them some momentum. Deathgrind is not easy for me to get into, though it helps a bit when mixed with deathcore. I'm sure the more extreme metalheads will love it more than I ever would.....

Favorites (only songs I like): "Broken", "Cyberwar", "Head Trauma", "Conman", "Breathe Deep"