| Written by Alex Stojanovic TRACK LISTING Under The Spell Diabolical No Faith In Humanity Repent Your Sins Hope Dies Last The Last Of A Dying Breed State Of Apathy Tormented Soul Servant Of The Beast The Lonely Wolf Ghost From The Past Whorefication City Baby Attacked By Rats Release Date: April 8, 2022 / Label: Napalm Records Website: www.destruction.de / Facebook |  |
DESTRUCTION IS:
Schmier - Vocals & bass / Damir Eskic - Lead guitars / Randy Black - Drums / Martin Furia - Rhythm guitars
Schmier - Vocals & bass / Damir Eskic - Lead guitars / Randy Black - Drums / Martin Furia - Rhythm guitars
In the last couple of years since the release of their last album Born To Perish, Destruction went through a couple of major changes. The first being that they left their longtime label Nuclear Blast Records, and are now signed to Napalm Records. However, the most eye-opening came last summer when Mike Sifringer, one of the band's founding members, decided to step down after nearly 4 decades in the band. That was a change that nobody saw coming, and it definitely hit us all in the head. This now leaves Schmier as the only original member left. Usually, when a band comes down to only having one original member left, there's definitely a lot of skepticism among fans, unless the band are able to deliver a super solid album that all concerns surrounding who is in the band goes out the window.
However, with new guitarist Martin Furia now filling the massive shoes Mike left behind, Destruction soldiered on, recording their sixteenth studio album Diabolical, and releasing it just in time for the band's 40th anniversary. On top of all that, Schmier also went through a breakup with his longtime girlfriend, and according to him, everything described above happened within weeks of each other. As a result, he credits Diabolical as an album that saved his life. This is also the band's first album to be released through their new label home: Napalm Records after being on Nuclear Blast for a decade.
The only thing I will say is that if you have been following Destruction for a long time, particularly the last 20 years, you know what to expect musically, and that is super aggressive, and super pissed-off old-school German thrash metal with lots of speed and groove. As always, like on any Destruction record, things get off to a thrashy start. Starting off with the ominous intro of "Under Your Spell", pure chaos then kicks in with the title track. "No Faith In Humanity" is definitely what I think the most old-school sounding track here. The riffing sounds like it's straight out of Infernal Overkill. On top of that, the lyrics perfectly summarize how we all feel about the world today. After a couple of old-school thrashers at the beginning, the groove is then laid down on "Repent Your Sins", and it shows that Schmier hasn't lost one of bit of his critical perspective on organized religion.
On an album that doesn't contain a lot of variety, particularly in the vocal department, 13 songs is a bit of an overstay of a welcome. The second half of the record isn't as strong as the first half, but "Tormented Soul" is an exception. However, from "State Of Apathy" onwards, there's quite a bit of inconsistency within the song quality. Another main criticism lies in the lyrical department. Even though there's plenty in the world to be pissed off about, Schmier tends to stick with rather typical metal lyrical subjects, mainly religion, politics, individualism and the state of the world. It's kind of gotten to a point where each new album that Destruction puts out is going to be kind of predictable in terms of both lyrical content and musical style. The songwriting is very economical, and they like to play safe, which certainly has its advantages and disadvantages. Production-wise, the album sounds as sharp as ever with a monstrous guitar tone, and crisp-sounding drums. My only complaint with the drum production is that the kick drums click rather than pound, and they sound higher in volume compared to the other drums.
It may just be Schmier as the only original member left, but that doesn't mean that Destruction isn't the same anymore. Even though I wouldn't say Diabolical is one of their best albums, it still proves that they're still as lethal as they've ever been, and after 40 years of thrashing around the globe, there's plenty of fuel still in the tank.
However, with new guitarist Martin Furia now filling the massive shoes Mike left behind, Destruction soldiered on, recording their sixteenth studio album Diabolical, and releasing it just in time for the band's 40th anniversary. On top of all that, Schmier also went through a breakup with his longtime girlfriend, and according to him, everything described above happened within weeks of each other. As a result, he credits Diabolical as an album that saved his life. This is also the band's first album to be released through their new label home: Napalm Records after being on Nuclear Blast for a decade.
The only thing I will say is that if you have been following Destruction for a long time, particularly the last 20 years, you know what to expect musically, and that is super aggressive, and super pissed-off old-school German thrash metal with lots of speed and groove. As always, like on any Destruction record, things get off to a thrashy start. Starting off with the ominous intro of "Under Your Spell", pure chaos then kicks in with the title track. "No Faith In Humanity" is definitely what I think the most old-school sounding track here. The riffing sounds like it's straight out of Infernal Overkill. On top of that, the lyrics perfectly summarize how we all feel about the world today. After a couple of old-school thrashers at the beginning, the groove is then laid down on "Repent Your Sins", and it shows that Schmier hasn't lost one of bit of his critical perspective on organized religion.
On an album that doesn't contain a lot of variety, particularly in the vocal department, 13 songs is a bit of an overstay of a welcome. The second half of the record isn't as strong as the first half, but "Tormented Soul" is an exception. However, from "State Of Apathy" onwards, there's quite a bit of inconsistency within the song quality. Another main criticism lies in the lyrical department. Even though there's plenty in the world to be pissed off about, Schmier tends to stick with rather typical metal lyrical subjects, mainly religion, politics, individualism and the state of the world. It's kind of gotten to a point where each new album that Destruction puts out is going to be kind of predictable in terms of both lyrical content and musical style. The songwriting is very economical, and they like to play safe, which certainly has its advantages and disadvantages. Production-wise, the album sounds as sharp as ever with a monstrous guitar tone, and crisp-sounding drums. My only complaint with the drum production is that the kick drums click rather than pound, and they sound higher in volume compared to the other drums.
It may just be Schmier as the only original member left, but that doesn't mean that Destruction isn't the same anymore. Even though I wouldn't say Diabolical is one of their best albums, it still proves that they're still as lethal as they've ever been, and after 40 years of thrashing around the globe, there's plenty of fuel still in the tank.
FINAL RATING
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