Review: Destruction “Spiritual Genocide” (2012)

Reviewed by Nima Hedayati

Artist: Destruction
Album: Spiritual Genocide
Label: Nuclear Blast
Release Date: 23rd November 2012

Track list:

1. Exordium
2. Renegades
3. Spiritual Genocide
4. Cyanide
5. City Of Doom
6. No Signs Of Repentance
7. To Dust You Will Decay
8. Legacy Of The Past (Guest Version)
9. Carnivore
10. Riot Squad
11. Under Violent Sledge

Destruction is a veteran thrash metal band from Germany with 30 years of recording and performing under their belts. Style wise I would say this band is quite raw and direct in their approach; they sound like they came from the same school as bands such as Sodom, Exodus and Testament. This is the bands 18th release (including studio and live albums). The bands front man, Schmier, released this statement with the album: “For the anniversary album, we’ve really knuckled down big-time – we’ve never been so fast, brutal and groovy before!“.

This album is relentless in its heaviness. There are no clean or acoustic passages as it’s balls to the wall thrash from start to finish. All the songs seem to maintain a high tempo and volume throughout which can get a bit repetitive after a while. Personally I like songs that take you on a journey with occasional break downs, experimental progressive passages and changes in dynamic; unfortunately there is none of that here.

The production is excellent throughout with all instruments and vocals sitting evenly in the mix. The performances on this album are also to a high standard. Throughout the album the drumming is punchy and tight. Guitars sound extremely crunchy with stereo imaging used to great effect. The bass is deep and punishing. The vocals are good but not great; they just seem to fill the gap between other instruments without pushing any boundaries. The guitar solos are minimal but fairly well executed.

The main let down here is the lack of originality in the song writing; this is thrash metal in it’s purest and rawest form with nothing ground breaking. All the songs are fairly decent but there are no stand out gems; after one listen I can’t remember any of the choruses and no particular track caught my attention. I’m not saying that this album is bad but it could have been much better if more time was spent. There is no doubt that this is well executed high octane thrash but there is nothing that triggered an emotional response when I listened to it.

If you like to head bang non-stop for 40 plus minutes with little care for melody or originality then this album will be right up your street. If like me you want something with a bit of substance then check out some old school thrash and let the good times roll.

rating: 7/10