By now Kreator has become one of my favourite bands I've found in metal so far. Who would have guessed. And when listening to Kreator there are other German bands that immediately come to mind. Kreator go hand in hand with the other icons of teutonic thrash metal: Destruction, Sodom and Tankard.
Today's blog article is about Destruction. Yet another band with an impressive life span. Formed in 1982 Destruction celebrated their 40th anniversary this year and can look back on 15 studio albums, most of them self-produced. Destruction's line-up has changed frequently over the years. Guitarist and founding member Mike Sifringer has been the band's guitarist and in parts bassist from 1982 - 2021 when he eventually left and was replaced by Martin Furia. Frontman and bassist Marcel "Schmier" Schirmer lends the band his shrieking vocals and overall badass appearance. He has been with the band from 1982 - 1989 when he was fired during the recordings of their fourth studio album Cracked Brain. Schmier rejoined the band in 1999 and has been a member since. During Schmier's absence guitarist Mike Sifringer released two EPs and one studio album under the name of Neo-Destruction. Those releases are categorised as groove metal and not part of the official Destruction discography.
Musicially Destruction started out in 1982 being influenced by the NWOBHM (Exciter, Jaguar, Raven, Angel Witch, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Venom). Destruction's goal was to play heavy music like them, just more extreme and even faster and they've been sticking to that plan. Apart from the Neo-Destruction era from 1994 - 1998 Destruction stand for very straightforward thrash metal: relentless, fast, aggressive and furious.
The first album I've played from Destruction was The Antichrist (2001). It starts with the short instrumental intro with spoken lyrics from Days of Confusion and the experienced listener knows what to expect. After 49 seconds the riffing from Thrash till Death breaks your neck. This song is thrash metal in its purest form. It is fast, it is aggressive and it is relentless in a way that leaves you totally exhausted after listening to it at full volume. And the whole album keeps on going this way. Each title is full of franctic riffs, double-bass drumming, catchy choruses and crazy breakdowns.
The Antichrist does not strive to be varied. All the songs sound rather similar, but this does not diminish this album. If one is looking for a solid thrash metal album released in the new millenial then this is one of the superb examples. While Thrash till Death is the best song on the album (for me personally) that left me a bit exhausted for the rest, I've listened to the rest of the album from end to end several times and I did not get bored. The Antichrist - a true comeback album for thrash metal and definitely on my list of best metal albums.