This debut album from Melbourne punks Damn The Empire boasts 16 blistering tracks (clocking in at a total of 20 minutes) that will bring welcomed relief to anyone starved of straight-up old-school-inspired punk rock with heart and humour. Features members of Bad Day Down, Yidcore and The Omen. For fans of Kid Dynamite, Paint It Black, 7 Seconds and Good Riddance.
Pressing:
500 x CDs : SOLD OUT
REVIEWS:
BLUNT Issue #86
DAMN THE EMPIRE – With Tends Like These…
The members of Melbourne four-piece Damn The Empire have previously clocked up an impressive amount of band time in outfits like Bad Day Down and Yidcore, so it’s no surprise that their debut album is rock solid. With Trends Like These… boasts 16 tracks that waste no time getting their point across (the album’s over within 20 minutes). Drawing on old school hardcore (that’s the ’80s stuff, kids) and ’70s punk, the tracks are both catchy and aggressive, with an even balance between serious and tongue-in-cheek lyrics. It’s honest, no-frills punk in a style that gets played too rarely these days, and it’s been released on a great local label, Pee (which also produces the excellent Pee Zine). This is the singalong punk album of the summer.
Rating: 8/10 – Review by: Dan Stapleton
upstarter! [USA]
DAMN THE EMPIRE – With Tends Like These…
This CD works straight out the gate! Damn The Empire is pissed. The world is going to hell. The government is fucked. The music industry is right down the toilet. The scene sucks. Prius owners are self-righteous pricks. “With Trends Like These…” doesn’t hold back on the anti-everything vitriol. I find it refreshing. This disc has something that a lot of punk rock has been lacking as of late, conviction. Damn The Empire means it without being smug or overly attitudinal. The band is fuming about meaningful timely issues, almost as if they were culturally aware with what is going on in America. … Here’s the thing though, they’re from Melbourne. It really serves to hammer home the homogeneity of the problems of the world (at least the Western World) Despite the gravity of the content, the band, thankfully, isn’t humorless. Tracks like 3. The Last Gasp Of An Entire Scene, Neutered and 12. This Free Music Download Brought To You Courtesy of Metallica’s Lars Ulrich let in some welcome cynical comedy. So here’s what you get 16 tracks of punk rock that is about as real as anything out there. I detect a lot of H2O and Down by Law as I’m listening to it. Of note, this disc was mixed at The Blasting Room. There is something magical about that place I tell ya. Cheers to Damn The Empire for a damn fine disc from Down Under and for uniting the world one punk rock song at a time.
Rating: 4/5 – Review by: Jerry Actually
Bombshell Zine
DAMN THE EMPIRE – With Tends Like These…
The only way to tackle a Monday is head on, no holes barred, so the logical choice when it came to picking out today’s ‘What’s In The Box?’ CD from the pile was to go for something hard ‘n fast. That’s exactly what Melbourne’s Damn The Empire offer on their debut album which was released on Friday via Pee Records. Members of bands like Yidcore, Bad Day Down, The Omen and Dead Like Geneva combine and deliver 16 tracks of punk rock fury. Sick of breakdown battle-offs, painful squeals / growls or whatever the term is this week for that cool band who you can’t understand a lyric being delivered? Pissed off by that one time punk band suddenly swapping drums for a sampler and going all pop on your arse? Or being sent broke by your favourite band putting out more merch designs than songs? Need something no-frills, foot to the floor and not about to go all 360 on you? Then look no further. 16 songs, 20 minutes, no fucking about. The good old fashion punk rock spirit is alive and breathing in Damn The Empire. Lyrics that get straight to the point and a sound that isn’t being done enough nowadays, which is probably not all that bad a thing because it makes this one much more enjoyable to listen to. To put it simply, if you dig a good energetic in your face brand of fist punching punk rock, this album is one for you.
Review by: Bomber
AsIce E-zine [Netherlands]
DAMN THE EMPIRE – With Tends Like These…
Damn The Empire from Melbourne, Australia takes its cues from Good Riddance’s more hardcore-oriented material, Kid Dynamite and Paint It Black and that should tell you what to expect here: fast, tight and passionate hardcore/punk with a raw melodic edge. On their debut album this foursome rages through sixteen furious songs in just twenty minutes without slowing down for a single moment. And yet, ‘With Trends Like These…’ never loses its sense of humor. Lead vocalist Bram Presser tackles all sorts of social, political and scene-related issues with a healthy dose of sarcasm in cleverly titled songs such as ‘Blackwatership Down’, ‘High Street Squatters, Inc.’ and ‘This Free Music Download Brought To You Courtesy Of Metallica’s Lars Ulrich’. Damn The Empire may not have invented the wheel, but they sure know how to take it for a blistering ride.
Rating: 4/5
ThePunkSite.com [USA]
DAMN THE EMPIRE – With Tends Like These…
Australia’s Damn The Empire formed with the intention of creating angry, gimmick-free, tongue-in-cheek punk rock and with their debut album, With Trends Like These…, it is plainly evident that the band successfully completed what they set out to do. The album blasts through sixteen tracks in just over twenty minutes, and in those twenty minutes the band delivers more than most bands nowadays do in twice the time period. It’s a blistering onslaught of melodic hardcore that tips their head to Strike Anywhere, Pennywise and Ignite all the while creating their own unique sound and style. The minute-long songs are built with a thunderous and hollow drum backbone, heavy guitar riffs and vocals that mix eighties hardcore screams with more welcoming gang vocals to create songs that call the listener to action, making them sing along in unison while pumping their fist in the air. In a way they remind me of One Win Choice, another relatively obscure band fighting the good fight and bringing the hardcore back into melodic hardcore. They’re a band doing what they want in a way that will surely incite some notice and attention from fans all over the globe. The songs are short bursts of anger being released through pointed lyrics of sociopolitical insight. Blackwatership Down, which features the best sing-along chant in the album,attacks Blackwater Worldwide’s involvement in the Iraq war (Why would anybody want to die for their country?/There’s a profit to be made from death / protecting someone else’s greed./ All hail the Department of Capital Defense/the only place a dead man’s dollar/still makes any sense). The songs on With Trend Like These…. are little reminders of what lyrics can be about, seeking out change and pointing out the problems with society, a rebellious act that once served as punk’s back bone. Damn The Empire isn’t all angst and fury at the world and government and do occasionally look inwardly upon the descent of the music scene. Take The Last Gaps of An Entire Scene Neutered which sees them screaming “We’re Angry (So What), We’re Spiteful (Let’s Fight), We still write protest songs for old time’s sake, so get in the pit and wait for the breakdown. Scenes now are just meaningless escapes” or This Free Music Download Brought To You Courtesy of Metallica’s Lars Ulrich who’s topic can be guessed by the title and you’ll see that the band isn’t only thinking of things on a large scale. With Trends Like These… is a straight up old school punk rock album and one that will get the blood flowing and energy rising in any fan of hardcore.
Rating: 3.5/5 – Review by: Bobby Gorman
RELEASE DATE:
16 Oct 2009
Also Available From:
CREDITS:
CAT #: PCD031
Recorded, Mixed & Mastered by:
Aidan Barton @ Sovereign Studios
Artwork by: Scott Mellor
