Destruction – Spiritual Genocide (2013)

With the current Thrash Metal revival, it is quite sad to hear bands going on their last hurrah with very mediocre releases. This is 100% the case for Schmier and company with a very uninspired “Spiritual Genocide”. Bands like Accept, Kreator, and Death Angel have managed to evolve over time and incorporate some more ‘modern’ elements into their sound, Destruction on the other hand has managed to stay exactly the same for the last 10 years.

Opening with the insipid “Exordium” this album instantly feels like the last few of the band. Tracks like “Cyanide” and “Spiritual Genocide” are typical Thrash Metal songs that sound like they arrived 10 years too late. The riffing is predictable and the vocals are so-so, there is a lack of viciousness and aggression here, and bands like Kreator and Death Angel are now clearly superior to this band that peaked years ago.

Make no mistake, there are some decent moments in this album on tracks like “City of Doom”, “To Dust You Will Decay” and “Riot Squad”, but there is nothing here that we haven’t heard before. Schmier has clearly seen better singing days and on this album he should have stick to playing the bass only. On songs that we have backing vocals, like “Under Violent Sledge”, we have a bit of hope, but only to be taken away by all the other so-so tunes.

In general, Destruction has clearly seen better days and now is probably a good time to hang their boots and sit and watch all the other old timers (Accept, Kreator, etc) push themselves and keep driving crowds wild. If you like the band’s older stuff and are a hardcore Thrash fan, this release will amuse you for a bit, but after a while it will leave a bad taste in your mouth similar to that of skunked beer.

Release: February 5th, 2013

Genre: Thrash Metal

Country: Germany