EMPIRE OF THE DAMNED definitely reminds me of some first wave of Black Metal bands like BATHORY, VENOM but mainly hell hammer this is most likely due to the fact that this band started in 1988 around when Extreme Metal started to evolve from Thrash Metal. There are also the Death Metal elements that this EP has these remind me of bands like DEATH, MORBID ANGEL and POSSESSED but this also might just be because of the time that this EP originally came out.

I think that it's clear to see that old school bands like this are a very important part of Metal history as at this time period Metal was a melting pot of different styles all coming together. This EP only has three songs but it's very clear that the band was going for quality rather than quantity which is very nice as its far better to have three very good songs as opposed to 10 okay songs. Some of the stand out bits in EMPIRE OF THE DAMNED for me is the drumming on throughout the whole EP is no short of incredible and the guitar riffs definitely complement the drums very nicely. I also really like the raw tone of the guitars it really adds to the simple striped back sound of the EP.

This EP would be ideal for anyone whom likes bands like BEHEMOTH, VENOM, HELLHAMMER and BATHORY. Fans of these bands would like this album as it has a lot of different elements from each of these bands like the rawness from HELLHAMMER and the vocal style akin to BATHORY and song structure that's quite like a BEHEMOTH song.

Also a little side note the album art looks very clean and crisp and has an almost Lovecraftian look to it. And the minimal use of colour makes it stand out in a strange kind of way. The cove its self would make a great bit of art to put up on the wall.

Over all this is a very good EP that deserves a listen from all who like this type of Metal it might take couple of listens to get used to the raw production but over time it will grow on you as it did on me it's a good EP but the production could have been a little better not to the point of sounding sterilise but just enough to make sound more clean.