BLACK FLAG - Damaged

Black Flag is without any doubt one of the most important hardcore punk bands of all times, probably the most important. And when I say this I am not trying to belittle the Dead Kennedys, Agnostic Front or Cro-Mags. Black Flag were the right people at the right time. Same as Black Sabbath were for heavy metal, Sex Pistols for punk, At the Gates for melodic death metal or Venom for black metal, Black Flag were for hardcore punk. To put it briefly: the primary definition of hardcore punk. The best example for this is of course the album we have here. 

Titled simply Damaged, the record is the first truly notable product released by the band, and also the first material recorded with singer Henry Rollins, an exceptional artist. I won’t go on about how cool Henry Rollins is and what he does outside of music, as this space is nowhere near enough for that. Let’s go back to Black Flag and their Damaged. The record, as I had started to explain above, is the pure essence of hardcore punk and, like the other bands I mentioned above (Black Sabbath, Sex Pistols, Venom or At the Gates) it shows that Black Flag were important not only for the hardcore punk scene, but also for names such as Saint Vitus, A Perfect Circle or even Public Enemy that are somehow grateful to them, while Converge, Hatebreed, Sepultura or The Melvins will always have a part of the Black Flag sound or attitude in their music.

H. Nota: 10