Emerging from America's hardcore underground, Damnation A.D. counted among the earliest acts to shed nearly all punk origins in exchange for an unrelenting, weighty style of dark metallic aggression that echoed Integrity's early-1990s recordings from Cleveland, OH. Mike "DC" McTernan's piercing, shouted delivery—evocative of Black Flag in the Rollins years—supplied the lone remaining trace of punk or hardcore attitude. Although most members had trained in D.C.'s vibrant punk environment, primary songwriter and guitarist Ken Olden also performed in the more conventional hardcore groups Battery, whose vocalist was McTernan's brother, producer Brian McTernan, and Better Than a Thousand. The band began chiefly as a studio endeavor, with Olden handling both drums and guitar while McTernan handled vocals. They issued a pair of singles in that configuration before enlisting Flying V-wielding guitarist and Kirk Hammett-lookalike Hillel Halloway, bassist Alex Merchlinsky, and drummer Dave Ward. To distinguish themselves from a West Coast punk band of the same name, they appended "A.D." and aligned with Jade Tree Records, which issued a split single alongside Walleye plus the brooding full-length No More Dreams of Happy Endings in 1995.
Extensive touring, frequently paired with hardcore acts such as Ignite and Earth Crisis, left them striving to cultivate an audience that grasped their direction. McTernan and Olden upheld straight-edge principles, often marking their hands with X's onstage, while the remaining members consumed alcohol—a contradiction that puzzled some listeners expecting tidy categories of lifestyle, sound, or politics. They nevertheless persisted, issuing the well-regarded Misericordia CD EP in August 1996. Seeking escape from Jade Tree's indie-rock and punk focus, the group moved to California's Revelation Records and delivered one final album, Kingdom of Lost Souls, which introduced new drummer Dave Bryson. Following the breakup, Olden sustained his work with Better Than a Thousand and launched the recording facility Monster Island; McTernan trained in tattooing before relocating to Richmond, VA; Halloway joined the metal outfit Black Manta; Merchlinsky pursued design studies at the Maryland Institute in Baltimore; and Ward settled in Los Angeles, CA.
After an eight-year absence, McTernan—who had begun vocal duties in the project When Tigers Fight—contacted Olden seeking advice on tracking his voice. They convened at the studio, laid down several takes, and soon resolved to reform Damnation A.D. and capture new material at Monster Island. Satisfied with the outcome, the band completed a full album titled In This Life or the Next, issued in 2007 by Victory Records. The release revived their original sludgy metalcore approach and included guest contributions from members of Give Up the Ghost, Darkest Hour, Earth Crisis, and Fall Out Boy.
