WEEK 211 – DESTRUCTION

My HeadBangers welcome from Weil am Rhein, Germany, one of the best Thrash Metal Bands I’ve heard….

DESTRUCTION

“No Faith In Humanity”

How can you not love these guys omfg.

“Under Attack”

This song was 7 years ago, but it could have been from today.

Let’s look at some bio on these guys:

Destruction is a German Thrash Metal band formed in 1982. They are often credited as one of the “Big Four” of the German Thrash Metal scene, the others being Kreator, Dosom and tankard.  In addition to helping pioneer black metal, Destruction was part of the second wave of thrash metal in the mid-to-late 1980s, along with American bands like Testament, Sacred Reich.  For most of the 1990s, the band was not signed to a record label and was forced to self-produce their albums until they signed a contract with Nuclear Blast in the early 2000s.

The band was formed in Weil am Rhein as Knight of Demon in 1982, inspired by Iron Maiden, Motörhead and several more. The line-up featured Ulf Kühne on vocals, Mike Sifringer on guitar, Marcel “Schmier” Schirmer on bass and Tommy Sandmann on drums. Kühne was kicked out of the band due to conflict with Sifringer over a girl. Schmier took over vocal duties. They were then known as Destruction and released a demo titled Bestial Invasion of Hell on 10 August 1984. After this, the group signed with Steamhammer Records and released an EP titled “Sentence of Death” on November 10.

“Black Mass”

So much talent in this band.  This was 14 years ago.

The first full-length album “Infernal Overkill” was released in 1985, followed a year later by Eternal Devastation in 1986. The trio was joined by a second guitarist, Harry Wilkens, and drummer Tommy Sandmann was replaced by Oliver Kaiser. Together they recorded the EP “Mad Butcher”, the third studio album “Release from Agony”, both released in 1987, and the first live album “Live Without Sense” in 1989. During this time, Destruction had enjoyed considerable popularity worldwide, touring relentlessly in Europe and North America.

Between 1989 through 2021, there were massive changes in members.  I’m not going to list them all but, we all know this happens with bands, shit gets in the way and no matter how long you have been there or known each other it just happens.  So in 2021:

On July 16, 2021, Destruction performed at the Area 53 Festival in Leoben without rhythm guitarist Mike Sifringer.  Schmier explained in a Facebook post that Sifringer had not answered his emails and questioned his status, and that there was a problem that led to the decision to continue without him and would release a statement planned for August 19.   Sifringer’s departure was confirmed that day and was replaced by new guitarist Martin Furia, followed by the release of a new single titled “State of Apathy”, featuring the band’s first recording appearance with Furia.  On August 13, the sixth live album Live Attack was released.  On December 16, a music video of the title track from the sixteenth studio album Diabolical was released. The album was released on  April 8, 2022 in celebration of the band’s 40th anniversary.

Let’s meet the band:

Marcel “Schmier” Schirmer – Bass (1982-1989, 1999-present) Lead Vocals (1984-1989, 1999-present)

Randy Black – Drums (2018-present)

Damir Eskic – Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals (2019-present)

Martin Furia – Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocals (2021-present)

My Thoughts:

The main thing I can say about this band is I LOVE THEM!!!!!!  The sound, pace of the music, the vocals all are in time with each other.  After 40 years they sound even better and the rawness is still there.  I love Thrash and I know Germany has some great Thrash bands and I would agree they are in the top 4, and they should be.  Through all the challenges and changes in the band they stayed the course and poured out album after album.  I don’t believe I’ve seen so many albums released so fast that are all great.  I would love to see them live, so I will keep my eyes on them.  Check them out on FB, they are everywhere guys.

That’s it for this week.  Join me Wednesday for HUMP DAY and I’ll be back Saturday with the weekly band.  Running a little late today, work that pays the bills always gets in the way, but it will never stop me.  In the meantime don’t stand to close to the fire if you can’t handle the burn…..