After hearing Damaged’s Rotten Records debut, Token Remedies Research, a few years back I was hooked on the band’s unique style blending speed, aggression and groove into a solid mass of barbaric hateful fury. It was one of the best albums I had heard up until the time I had gotten my hands on a copy of their Do Not Spit CD and Passive Backseat Demon Engine EP. After listening to all of the material of theirs I could find, I was greatly looking forward to hearing something new, since everything they had recorded to date had completely blown me away. About a year ago I found out that the band, indeed, was working on a new album, however, some major changes were taking place. The most publicized change was the departure of hundred-curse-a-second-pure-hate-and-energy spewer James who was replaced by none other than Kevin Sharp, formerly of Brutal Truth, who flew into Australia for the sole purpose of doing vocals for the CD. I will admit I was rather skeptical, as James had a style all his own that helped take the music to another level, however Kevin has been in the business a long time and is arguably one of the best vocalists in the scene, my only question was could he duplicate, or further, James’ style to help fit into the Damaged sound, or would the band have to change their sound to suit his vocal style? The question was quickly answered the moment I tossed Purified In Pain into my CD player for the first time. Not only did Kevin abandon the vocal style that he had made famous to fit the band’s sound, he was able to pull off the unthinkable, he is actually able to keep pace with James’ erratic often high-paced aural assault. There is a minor, yet obvious, change with the music as the majority of the writing is now being handled by ex-Order Of Chaos bassist Terry, however, it does not depart that far from the group’s established sound. As expected Matt still beats his drum kit senseless with machine gun speed and intensity while Hilly and Terry rip and tear along in trademark Damaged style. The album contains a number of energetic tracks that will get hair and goat horns flying such as "Broken", "Lifestyles", "Head Trauma", "Breathe Deep" and a strong cover of Terrorizer’s "After World Obliteration" which will satisfy all fans of this group. The one thing that struck me about this album is the lack of any stand-out tracks. On their other albums I was able to find at least two or three tracks I would listen to repeatedly, however there are no such songs on Purified In Pain. There is no denying the band’s talent, however I feel there was probably too much change too soon with too little time spent preparing for the album, as it feels as though the majority of the album is centered around a few strong riffs surrounded by endless amounts of filler material. Don’t get me wrong, I still do enjoy this album, however it did have a very short amount of time spent on my CD player as it just seems to be lacking the feel of the previous releases. The CD is still better than 90% of albums out there, however it’s just not as good as Damaged’s earlier recordings. Hopefully the group will turn it around and release something even stronger next time around.

Written By: Teufel