| Written by Alex Stojanovic TRACK LISTING Birth Of Malice Destruction Cyber Warfare No Kings, No Masters Scumbag Human Race God Of Gore A.N.G.S.T. Dealer Of Death Evil Never Sleeps Chains Of Sorrow Greed Fast As A Shark (Accept cover) Release Date: March 7, 2025 Label: Napalm Records / Website: destruction.de |  |
This year will see half of the Big Teutonic 4 celebrating 40 years since their debut albums, but only one of them is releasing a new album this year to celebrate that milestone, and that's Destruction. Continuing with the rather steady tradition of a new release every 3 years, they return with their sixteenth studio offering: Birth Of Malice. Now, I will be completely honest, the last few Destruction releases for me have been hit-and-miss with each album containing some great moments and the rest were just filler. The last album Diabolical was the first not to feature original guitarist Mike Sifringer since his departure in 2021, leaving Schmier as the only original member left in the band.
Arriving in 2025 with Birth Of Malice and celebrating 40 years since the release of Infernal Overkill, there's still plenty of fury left in the tank. However, while the fuel and the fury in the performance are still there, I wouldn't exactly say the same thing about the creative side. There's plenty in the world to be pissed off about and turn that anger into awesome thrash metal songs. However, the last few releases feel more like scrapyards of rusty parts that were pieced together in a hurry. To me, their last great record was Day Of Reckoning. Each record after that showed a slow decline with sporadic moments of greatness to be found over each of them, and Birth Of Malice is no different. It's filled to the brim with formulaic songwriting and lack of innovation. It's a very predictable listen-through, and every track seems to almost blend together.
Schmier has lost nothing off his bass playing and vocal chops. However, when it comes to writing and overall attitude, he's still very much stuck in the past, including his mentality. When not writing lyrics about current world events, politics and religion, he's writing about thrash's early days and the overall lifestyle, and that topic appears once again on this album with the band's namesake track "Destruction". It honestly doesn't get more cheesy and corny than "We're (insert band name here)", all while quoting and referrencing your own songs and other bands in the lyrics. As if he hasn't written about thrash as a whole enough times already. I mean, "Thrash Attack", "The Butcher Strikes Back", "Thrash 'Til Death", "Metal Discharge", "Legacy Of The Past", "Elegant Pigs", hello?! Even when he has a motivating message, his lyrical style is so juvenile that to hear that still coming from a guy who will be 60 this year is pretty cringe-inducing.
I went into this record with caution due to the band's reputation over the last few releases, and like with Diabolical, the first half seems to contain the strongest musical moments, while the second half falls flat on its face. It's usually the main riffs in certain songs that tend to keep certain songs afloat, like in "Scumbag Human Race", "No Kings, No Masters" and "God Of Gore". There are some nice guitar harmonies between Damir Eskic and Martin Furia making their presence known on songs like "Evil Never Sleeps" and "Chains Of Sorrow", but it's still not enough to hold them up. The major strength with this record, as well as Diabolical and Born To Perish, is the production. It's nice and sharp with tons of punch, and Randy Black is an absolute machine on the drums.
Simply put, I'm not getting my hopes up with any future Destruction studio releases. Of course records like Infernal Overkill, Eternal Devastation, Release From Agony and The Antichrist will always be classics in the band's discography, and will always have sentimental value for many, the band's biggest adversary is themselves, but you can mostly say Schmier's biggest adversary is himself, since he's the only original member left. Simultaneously however, with 40 years under their belt, Destruction is a band that should be celebrated, because they're still here with lots of energy and passion. The challenge is that the creative juices within the band seem to be dwindling at a quicker pace than we thought. I know this won't be Destruction's last release, but if it is, I as a fan will not be bothered. I'll always be a fan and will always see them live when the opportunity comes around, but as far as new Destruction full-lengths gripping me, those chances are pretty slim.
Arriving in 2025 with Birth Of Malice and celebrating 40 years since the release of Infernal Overkill, there's still plenty of fury left in the tank. However, while the fuel and the fury in the performance are still there, I wouldn't exactly say the same thing about the creative side. There's plenty in the world to be pissed off about and turn that anger into awesome thrash metal songs. However, the last few releases feel more like scrapyards of rusty parts that were pieced together in a hurry. To me, their last great record was Day Of Reckoning. Each record after that showed a slow decline with sporadic moments of greatness to be found over each of them, and Birth Of Malice is no different. It's filled to the brim with formulaic songwriting and lack of innovation. It's a very predictable listen-through, and every track seems to almost blend together.
Schmier has lost nothing off his bass playing and vocal chops. However, when it comes to writing and overall attitude, he's still very much stuck in the past, including his mentality. When not writing lyrics about current world events, politics and religion, he's writing about thrash's early days and the overall lifestyle, and that topic appears once again on this album with the band's namesake track "Destruction". It honestly doesn't get more cheesy and corny than "We're (insert band name here)", all while quoting and referrencing your own songs and other bands in the lyrics. As if he hasn't written about thrash as a whole enough times already. I mean, "Thrash Attack", "The Butcher Strikes Back", "Thrash 'Til Death", "Metal Discharge", "Legacy Of The Past", "Elegant Pigs", hello?! Even when he has a motivating message, his lyrical style is so juvenile that to hear that still coming from a guy who will be 60 this year is pretty cringe-inducing.
I went into this record with caution due to the band's reputation over the last few releases, and like with Diabolical, the first half seems to contain the strongest musical moments, while the second half falls flat on its face. It's usually the main riffs in certain songs that tend to keep certain songs afloat, like in "Scumbag Human Race", "No Kings, No Masters" and "God Of Gore". There are some nice guitar harmonies between Damir Eskic and Martin Furia making their presence known on songs like "Evil Never Sleeps" and "Chains Of Sorrow", but it's still not enough to hold them up. The major strength with this record, as well as Diabolical and Born To Perish, is the production. It's nice and sharp with tons of punch, and Randy Black is an absolute machine on the drums.
Simply put, I'm not getting my hopes up with any future Destruction studio releases. Of course records like Infernal Overkill, Eternal Devastation, Release From Agony and The Antichrist will always be classics in the band's discography, and will always have sentimental value for many, the band's biggest adversary is themselves, but you can mostly say Schmier's biggest adversary is himself, since he's the only original member left. Simultaneously however, with 40 years under their belt, Destruction is a band that should be celebrated, because they're still here with lots of energy and passion. The challenge is that the creative juices within the band seem to be dwindling at a quicker pace than we thought. I know this won't be Destruction's last release, but if it is, I as a fan will not be bothered. I'll always be a fan and will always see them live when the opportunity comes around, but as far as new Destruction full-lengths gripping me, those chances are pretty slim.
FINAL RATING
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