FRETLESS – Damnation

Damnation is the second release from Swedish Hard Rock/Heavy Metal band Fretless, the follow up to 2011’s Local Heros. Local Heros is a pretty apt description of the band, with most of Damnation sounding like the best Metal band from your hometown. The songs are just slightly above average, decent production, solid vocals and instrumentation, and pretty average lead guitar. The band cites Accept as an influence, and that influence is pretty evident throughout Damnation.

The current lineup of Fretless includes Patte Carlsson, vocals, guitars; Linus Andersson, guitars, backing vocals; Lasse Strand, bass, backing vocals; and Ludwig Tornemal, drums. Carlsson’s vocals are reminiscent of Udo Dirkshnider, with a touch of Bruce Dickenson showing through, although there are quite a few notes that warble off-pitch slightly. It’s not clear if both guitarists share leads, or one is the designated lead player, but it is clear that one or both subscribes to the Kirk Hammett school of lead playing. When in doubt, wah it out.

Damnation does give a nice supply of music, with 13 tracks coming in at over 53 minutes of music. The first track, however, follows suit with many recent offerings, in that it is not really a song, but some sort of intro, possibly even the band’s live show intro. It adds nothing to the album, except perhaps a time filler. It is repetitive, and uninteresting, sounding more like a movie trailer than a song. Fans of Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Accept, and of course Fretless may find something worthwhile here to enjoy.

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