{"id":49097,"date":"2016-05-13T00:00:16","date_gmt":"2016-05-13T00:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=49097"},"modified":"2016-11-07T00:39:29","modified_gmt":"2016-11-07T00:39:29","slug":"album-review-destruction-under-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-destruction-under-attack\/","title":{"rendered":"DESTRUCTION – Under Attack (2016) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

DESTRUCTION
Under Attack<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nNuclear Blast (2016)<\/span>
Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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I always put Germany\u2019s Destruction<\/a> and fellow countrymen Sodom down as the most lethal thrash tag-team in the business. Okay, some would argue that Kreator should in there somewhere, but there are just so many parallels between these two Teutonic veterans.<\/p>\n

And so we come to Destruction\u2019s 14th (one less than Sodom) battering ram which comes four years after the impressive Spiritual Genocide<\/em><\/a>. I recall back in the 80s wondering which would be the best thrash album of the year, and there was always that tendency to create rivalries, and while I have really enjoyed perusing the depths of Destruction\u2019s latest opus I have to say that Sodom\u2019s Decision Day<\/em><\/a> pips it to the post. <\/p>\n

Under Attack <\/em>brings us ten new tracks and two bonus cuts; a reworking of \u2018Thrash Attack\u2019 (from 1985 full-length debut Infernal Overkill<\/em>) and a cover of Venom\u2019s legendary \u2018Black Metal\u2019. But forget the novelties and let\u2019s concentrate on the ten tunes the band has concocted.<\/p>\n

Opener is the title track; a solid, energetic thrash workout pumped out in typical Destruction vein. Again, it\u2019s a steely hammer blow which harkens back to the band\u2019s late 80s work; sharp, clinical and furious, and given that vicious edge by Schmier\u2019s sneer, which although lacking the menace of Sodom\u2019s Tom Angelripper still brings joy to the ears as we celebrate this German cacophony which has ridden through the tough times to continue on its belligerent path. It\u2019s Destruction in full speed mode; hardened by Vaaver\u2019s nihilistic drum attack and those fizzing solos from Mike.<\/p>\n

Destruction are the Mot\u00f6rhead of thrash metal; plying their trade by coughing up no frills, balls-to-the-wall fast metal. You never feel let down and yet you never want to criticise, because like Sodom, Kreator et al, they\u2019ve been with us for so long as the likes of Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer<\/a> and Megadeth<\/a> have at times bucked to trend and released bad eggs. But maybe it\u2019s because of their sometimes generic brand of metal that the likes of Destruction don\u2019t get the credit they deserve. After all, they\u2019ve become part of the furniture \u2013 rusty war pigs embedded into our metal psyche along with Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Mot\u00f6rhead. And we\u2019d certainly be fools to expect albums as great as their 80s efforts because that was a special time, but that\u2019s not to say that these veterans haven\u2019t still got it.<\/p>\n

With the blitzkrieg attack of \u2018Generation Nevermore\u2019 (a true thrash anthem for the now generation), \u2018Conductor Of The Void (another hammering, straight down the line thrash archetype of terror), and \u2018Getting Used To The Evil\u2019 (with its intriguing simmering subtle intro and excellent marrying of power and darker, foreboding trudges), there\u2019s always moments when you can smile in the knowing that Destruction have once again strung us up like a pig and bled us dry with their menacing melody and belligerent thrash rust. <\/p>\n

My only real criticism with the album is that the production seems a tad thin, and so at times I\u2019m craving something meatier to whack me round the face. And yet there are moments on offer here when I\u2019m transported back the classic horrors of, say, Infernal Overkill<\/em> as I\u2019m trampled by the furious \u2018Pathogenic\u2019 and steamrollered by the killer melodies of \u2018Stand Up For What You Deliver\u2019; the trio again cementing my Mot\u00f6rhead comparison in that these are tracks which will not change the thrash genre, but in turn teach the new kids on the block a thing or two about how to really thrash out.<\/p>\n

Like Sodom, Destruction are masters of slowing the pace for sinister appeal, but there\u2019s always a nasty streak waiting around the corner; \u2018Elegant Pigs\u2019 is Mot\u00f6rhead meets Venom, while \u2018Stigmatized\u2019 is an arrogant slab of galloping cold steel full of catchy riffs and a drum that rattles the bones.<\/p>\n

The motto of \u201cdon\u2019t fix something which isn\u2019t broken\u201d remains true with Destruction as they rumble on through the decades. This beast is still cold and still very much clinical.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DESTRUCTIONUnder Attack Nuclear Blast (2016)Rating: 8\/10 I always put Germany\u2019s Destruction and fellow countrymen Sodom down as the most lethal thrash tag-team in the business. Okay, some would argue that Kreator should in there somewhere, but there are just so many parallels between these two Teutonic veterans. And so we come to Destruction\u2019s 14th (one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-destruction"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49097"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49509,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49097\/revisions\/49509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}