Review by JD on January 25, 2009.

One weird name for this band... that is true, but does that spell a bad album? Nope! It perhaps makes you look twice before simply passing it off as run of the mill or something. I am glad that I did get this Polish powerhouse Mord'A'Stigmata to review.

They are a brutal slab of metal straight from Poland, people who always know just how to crush our craniums. The band, as like others from their homeland, do not compromise anything, making the music blast into your head like a run-a-way Mack truck into a brick wall. It os completely explosive, as those guitar attacks could bends steel yet still hold so much talent that it is nearly criminal to hear.

I am not quite sure why they use some German phrases and words in their music, but hey... that is unimportant (other than my more than mild curiosity) because this band is clearly one that knows how to punch out some serious sounding Death Metal. One listen to the songs like 'Manstrual Heroin' or 'Mercury's Sigillum' and you will get that picture clearly. They do not pretend to play Death Metal or have a lack of intelligence... they pound out amazing walls of metallic thunder while making enough changes to show that they are different as well... and all with great thought.

Mord'A'Stigmata clearly is a band that fits well into the metal frame of things... but they are out to define exactly what they will be bringing into that frame, and that has the stamp of originality all over it. They are musicians that will be leading the new metal charge from the European east, and will vehemently stomp all fake music out in it's path.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 8.5
Atmosphere: 7.5
Production: 7
Originality:8
Overall: 8

Rating: 7.8 out of 10

Review by Jack on September 10, 2001.

Damaged are a band that seems to be completely geared around the creating riffs and lyrics to support the insanely cruel drumming of Matt. These blokes come from Australia and as such they are a relatively undiscovered act internationally, as per the norm in the Australia metal scene.

Vocals for “Token Remedies Research” (and indeed any Damaged release) roar along at 10000 miles per hour, which is exactly the same for the drumming. As a result, the lyrical content would amount to a good few chapters worth of words in a decent sized novel, if they were to be arranged in such a fashion. The lyrics are absolutely undecipherable spewed out like they are, words I was able to make out are; “Ohhhh”, “Uggghhh” and “Arrgh”.

“Token Remedies Research” is Damaged’s second full-length release after their immensely popular debut, “Do Not Spit”. Like the first album, content is concerned with politics, pharmaceuticals, murder and other contemporary urban issues prevalent in today’s big cities.

Unfortunately for “Token Remedies Research” it seems to hit a brick wall after about 20 minutes, and tends to drop off in it’s initial ball-breaking impact towards the ending of the album, leaving the consumer thirsting for more grind/death action. So in summarizing Damaged is good for half of the album, but sucks cattle-prods for the other half. (If you are particularly handy with a circular-saw you could make yourself a nifty, small EP from “Token Remedies Research”, because the second half is really, really shitty)

Bottom Line: Good follow up to “Do Not Spit”, “Token Remedies Research” is solid but does not contain as many memorable tracks as “Do Not Spit”, so I do suggest you seek out the debut before parting with dollars for “Token Remedies Research”.

Rating: 6 out of 10

Review by Jack on September 10, 2001.

Damaged are a band that seems to be completely geared around the creating riffs and lyrics to support the insanely cruel drumming of Matt. These blokes come from Australia and as such they are a relatively undiscovered act internationally, as per the norm in the Australia metal scene.

Vocals for “Token Remedies Research” (and indeed any Damaged release) roar along at 10000 miles per hour, which is exactly the same for the drumming. As a result, the lyrical content would amount to a good few chapters worth of words in a decent sized novel, if they were to be arranged in such a fashion. The lyrics are absolutely undecipherable spewed out like they are, words I was able to make out are; “Ohhhh”, “Uggghhh” and “Arrgh”.

“Token Remedies Research” is Damaged’s second full-length release after their immensely popular debut, “Do Not Spit”. Like the first album, content is concerned with politics, pharmaceuticals, murder and other contemporary urban issues prevalent in today’s big cities.

Unfortunately for “Token Remedies Research” it seems to hit a brick wall after about 20 minutes, and tends to drop off in it’s initial ball-breaking impact towards the ending of the album, leaving the consumer thirsting for more grind/death action. So in summarizing Damaged is good for half of the album, but sucks cattle-prods for the other half. (If you are particularly handy with a circular-saw you could make yourself a nifty, small EP from “Token Remedies Research”, because the second half is really, really shitty)

Bottom Line: Good follow up to “Do Not Spit”, “Token Remedies Research” is solid but does not contain as many memorable tracks as “Do Not Spit”, so I do suggest you seek out the debut before parting with dollars for “Token Remedies Research”.

Rating: 6 out of 10