A CD review of RAZED IN BLACK's release DAMAGED.

Razed in Black - Damaged
Cleopatra Records 2003

by wa.carpediempublishing.com



Razed in Black, showcases the industrial dance obsessions of Romell
Regulacion,. His work is also featured in his myriad of other side
projects that include Transmutator, and DJ work as DJ RiB, or DJ skOOby.

Damaged marks the fifth full length release by Razed in Black and the
eighth full length release overall since 1994. Sure hope he is taking his
vitamins, with a work schedule like his, he is going to need them.

Damaged is a double CD that includes the full length album on disc one,
and re-mixes on disc two . All the tracks feature a fresh dance/trance mix
of guitars and keyboards that you are unlikely to hear from many other
musicians. Strongest tracks from disc one include “There Goes My Head”,
“Leave It All Behind”, “Am I 2 Blame?”, and “Visions”. The most engaging
re-mix on disc two is easily the Leave It All Behind (future retro mix)
with production done by Romell Regulacion himself. Other featured
re-mixers on Damaged include Assemblage 23, Soil and Eclipse, Sonic State,
Neikka RPM, Eve of Destiny, Inertia, and DJ Misguided among others.

As a bonus Cleopatra has included the videos of “Master” filmed during a
performance at the Key Club and “Overflow” composed of a bunch of video
tracks submitted by fans of the band from all fifty states.

While the artistry of Damaged is interesting it is lost in the mixing that
is way too bass heavy and makes vocals, mid-levels, and trebles nearly
unintelligible as the bass slams away. As an experiment I turned my bass
channel all the way down, and I could hardly tell the difference. There
are hints of greatness here and there, you just have to listen closely.

Damaged is worth your buy if you are not concerned with variety in your
drum beats, and two, if you own a hi-fi system where you will be able to
filter out the excess bass to get at the sonic meat hidden beneath.