Rockbites: The Damage Manual are neo hard, neo potent on debut

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September 2000 • Rockbites Alternative Daily

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The Damage Manual are neo hard, neo potent on debut
1 September 2000

On their debut, self titled album, post industrial supergroup The Damage Manual prove that less can be much, much more. Producer and drummer Martin Atkins has distilled lessons won from more than 20 years in rock and roll (Public Image Limited, Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, Pigface, the list goes on) striking a critical balance between a minimalist aesthetic and a clear-the-decks, nuclear attack presentation. The effect is as close to pure power as anything released in the last several years, while expressing a surprising depth of musical and lyrical subtlety & variety.
    In particular, The Damage Manual make wannabes like Limp Bizkit and Korn appear to be just the shallow, testosterone driven little boys that they are. Did I mention that DM do this without trying?
    The genius of Atkins’ approach is that he lets absolutely nothing get in the way of anything else. So he can get away with less of everything. With the end result being that much stronger. The approach also contributes to a very refreshing emotional transparency and connectedness, rarely heard this side of twee.
    As he put it during a chat with Rockbites earlier this year, “I’ve worked on songs that I didn’t think were powerful... then I’ve ended up going back to the rhythm section and... making sure the drums and the bass rock. And then I found myself starting to remove all of the reinforcing elements I’d put on the song to help with its momentum. Because for every reinforcement you put on there, you might gain a little bit but you also lose some of the nuances.”
    Atkins, an expert in drywall construction in addition to being a studio guru, a drummer par excellence, and a highly successful entertainment executive (with Chicago’s Invisible records), knows the value of starting with excellent raw materials. In the case of The Damage Manual those materials comprise former PiL bandmate Jah Wobble on bass, Ministry/Revolting Cocks vocalist and lyricist Chris Connelly, Killing Joke guitarist Geordie Walker, and sometime contributor Lee Fraser (Sheep On Drugs) on keyboards/synths/tweaks.
    No doubt music to mosh to, this disc bears the closest inspection and just keeps sounding better. Rockbites enthusiastically recommends The Damage Manual’s debut album, available in the US on 5 September and in the UK the day before. | The Damage Manual | | CD from Amazon UK | | CD from CDnow (US) | | bio | | discography | | sample from 1 (EP) | | top of page |

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