From the rugged coastline of Stavanger, a city already revered in Norway’s rock’n’roll narrative, a primal roar reverberated through the airwaves on April 28th, 2023. This was not just any sonic eruption, but the release of “Be Damned!” the second album by melodic hardcore band Dangerface, the latest signees of Fysisk Format. Conjuring up an untamed spirit reminiscent of The Good The Bad and The Zugly, Gallows, and Bronx, Dangerface embedded themselves further into the marrow of rock’s bone with this release.
Much like the city they hail from, Dangerface’s sound is a blend of the raw and the refined, forged under the weight of relentless performances and ceaseless creativity. Their journey, which began with their debut album “Get Loud!” in 2019, saw them capturing the attention of industry titans like Metal Hammer UK and PunkNews.org, and gracing stages as far away as the UK’s 2000 Trees Festival. Yet, despite their burgeoning reputation, Dangerface never strayed from their roots.
Their sophomore effort, “Be Damned!” heralded a newfound maturity, a subtle honing of their primal instincts. The album’s lead single, “Pardon My Douche,” unveiled on January 27th, showcased the band’s evolution from raucous punk rioters to potent rock artisans. Laden with sing-along anthems and classic rock guitar riffs, the song is an emblem of survival and resilience, capturing the human struggle to escape toxic and harmful relationships. Accompanied by a music video fronted by vocalist Michael Myklebust, the single was a testament to Dangerface’s ability to balance introspection with an unabashed love for raucous rock ‘n’ roll.
Behind Dangerface’s compelling facade were the contributions of each band member, each one an irreplaceable cog in their rock ‘n’ roll machine. Myklebust’s vocals were bolstered by the twin-guitar attack of Jan Eirik Forland and Christian Levik Monsen, anchored by Mikael Christensen Moe’s bass and given life by Steinar Fattnes’ pulsating drums. Together, they created a sound that was both monumental and intimate, the result of hours spent at Bridge Burner Recordings with producer Arvid Tjelta.
“Be Damned!” was not merely an album, but a chronicle of Dangerface’s journey, a testament to their commitment to their craft, and a promise to the rock ‘n’ roll faithful. Even as they achieved milestones, Dangerface remained true to their essence, producing rock music that was as true as the Norwegian coastline from which they hailed.
“Be Damned!” unfolds as a bold and gritty exploration of the human condition, its highs and lows, struggles, and survival instinct. Layered with dark themes and sharp commentary, the album often infuses a paradoxical mixture of party anthems with deeper, harsher realities. Its narrative treads the path of introspection, toxic relationships, self-destruction, the pursuit of forbidden love, and existential dread, underlining a grim acceptance of life’s disappointments. The apocalyptic overtones, imbued with a sense of unrepentant defiance, reflect an unsettling world view, capturing the spirit of rebellion and frustration against a flawed system. As the album journey concludes, it leaves a lingering resonance of resilience, a testament to the ethos of ‘you do you,’ an homage to those who strive amidst adversity.
In an effort to delve deeper into this recently unveiled musical treasure, we invited the band to provide us with their unique, song-by-song reflection on the entirety of the album. Here’s what they shared with us.
The Lord Hates a Quitter
The Lord Hates a Quitter is pretty much a good time going from casual to apeshit. It’s a partysong. But lyrically it’s a bit darker than that. A bunch of our songs, even from our last record, have this common denominator. An Alter-Ego. Upbeat with good groove. But with darker lyrics. (Wolves, Fifteen Seconds, Face Horrific, It’s Alive, It Takes Guts) «The Lord Hates a Quitter» is one of those songs. It’s about two altar boys that are pretty sick of being taken advantage of, in more ways than one, if you know what I mean, wink, wink ;) catholics and such? I’m sure you get it. Well, these two altar boys turn the house of God into a bonfire, with the abuser in it, steal his car, and goes on a complete bender with drugs and alcohol. With no remorse. You know… living life. Burn the liar. This song is also the first song written by our guitarist Mikael.
Nothing Gold Can Stay
NGCS is about just that. Nothing gold can stay. When you go through the motions and reflect over you own choices in life. Some good, but mostly bad. And when life seems pretty good, it has a habit of kicking the shit out of you when you least expect it. It’s also about the addiction of looking for clarity, but all the wrong turns you take to find it. Being in love with the thought of being in love. Selfdestructing stuff. Some happy thoughts right there!
Pardon My Douche
This song is simply about letting go. Letting go of shit in your life that seem like the right things, but are just a curse dressed as a blessing. But there are hints dropping all around you. And once you finally open your blurry eyes and finally let go of that shit, you find yourself knee deep in shit. Drowning. In the deep end. You know… in shit.
Yeah. Happy as can be! This was also the first single from our newest album «Be Damned!». This song came late in the songwriting process for the album. Jani was getting a bit tired of making rockn’roll songs, but he squeezed this little beauty out as we were finishing up. And we all loved it. And so DF history was made.
It’s Alive!
Another alter-ego song, this one. I always wanted to write a little horror story, and so Its Alive came along. Its about a man looking for true love, and his perverted love life never gave him a real chance at it. So he made his own mate. Kinda like the bride of frankenstein-ish. Created out of pure sin and monstrosity. You know, as you do! It’s Alive is kinda our hardcore alibi on this record ;) We wanted to create a song that just ripped. The main riff is weird, and a fucked up time signature (we think), but it’s fun to play.
Set Me On Fire
Lyrically SMOF is a song about these basic words, «just. fucking. shoot. me». Another track about selfreflection, that you find just hating everything about yourself, and about when your life is going down the drain. Basically, fuck everyone, and everything. «I just wanna Burn it away.» This song was written by our guitarist Jani back in 2019, just after the release of our debut album «Get Loud!». So, this song has actually been around in the band for a while. We finally made it work with lyrics, and it just HAD to be on this record. This was also the last single we released from this album.
Be Damned!
As the theme around the album «Be Damned!» this song is about the world going to shit. Apocalyptic times ahead! It goes hand in hand with the back design of the album artwork. The title track on this record is our attempt at writing a more «poppy» sounding punk song, even though it’s probably not that poppy ;) This was even going to be the album opener, but we changed our minds in the last minute.
It Takes Guts To Be An Organ Donor
Another apocalyptic-party-alter-ego song! (Enter hang loose emoji here) The world has now gone to shit, and ruthlessness rules. In tone of the album artwork, The boys are back in town, and life’s a party! «The sky has fallen, but I’ve yet to bite my tongue». The Apocalypse has hit, We’re «out until the lights open up your eyes, cuz We’re the rising sons» LETS GO! For this song, we wanted to play around more with hooks. So, we created the main guitar-hook first actually, and just created the song around it. And it worked!
Dead Poet Anxiety
Probably the darkest one, lyrically. Its pure frustration put into words. Not much to say other than read the lyrics. And you’ll get what I mean. We had a lot of fun making the song. The lyrics came waaaay later! This song is very inspired by early Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes.
Thrust Me! (I Got This)
This one is goes in another direction. A bit more political. Standing up for the little man and such. Standing up for yourself. In the end its all about you and your closest. And if someone trues to fucks you over, fuck em. Thats basically the main tone here. You do you, basically! This song is actually based on the first riff we ever created as a band. But, we never seemed to be able to actually create a song from it. Eventually, the riff just became known within the band as «Cursed», simply because anything we ever tried never worked. Finally, our guitarist Jani just said fuck it; let’s just finish the song with that one riff. Make the entire song out of ONE riff. So, we did :)
We Got A Situation
WGAS and Thrust Me! is set in the same kind of mindset. About working your hands to the bone to put food on the table. The old coalminers working in the mines of northern Norway. Having to retire at an early age because of sickness and bad working conditions. Took it to the max here though, cuz usually I put more tongue-in-cheek themes in more serious songs, but I guess I got a bit carried away, and just stuck with it. First time for everything! The last song on this album, as the first one, was written by guitarist Mikael. As soon as the rest of the band heard this song, we just knew that this had to be the album closer :)
