Maximum Metal Rating Legend

Night Demon Curse of the Damned Company: Century Media Release: 2015 Genre: Traditional Reviewer: Greg Watson

Nostalgic trip

Newcomers Night Demon make their full-length debut with "Curse of the Damned", a fun, nostalgic trip back through old school metal with a new school feel. From the jump, "Curse" is an album that is sure to give you that fuzzy feeling inside and make you want to break out your old Riot or Loudness shirts that you've put away. Opening track "Screams in the Night" is a great starter, really kicking things off with a driving guitar riff, speedy drumming and a very catchy song that gets stuck in your brain like a thumbtack in a cubicle wall. As the album progresses, the band show their love for early NWOBHM and classic metal. Tracks like "Curse of the Damned", "Full Speed Ahead" and "Livin' Dangerous" are great songs that could easily have been viewed as hits back in the late 80's to early 90's. "The Howling Man", the album's longest track at 6:48, is a pretty decent story track that changes it up a little, incorporating a slower tempo to the song and the riffs and having a bit of doom infused in the track as well. The one gripe I have with the album is that some of the songs do sound the same upon further listens. For instance, the cadence of "Curse of the Damned" and "Full Speed Ahead" are almost identical and the music is done in the same time signature with just a slight variation on the main riff. Despite the repetitiveness, I found myself listening to this album quite a bit after my initial run through. Old school fans will be happy to be afflicted with the "Curse of the Damned".