‘Big Teutonic 4’ my arse! There’s only THREE mega successful German thrash bands in my book and that’s Kreator, Sodom and these guys – Destruction. How those beer soaked loons, Tankard, found their way on the ‘Big Teutonic 4’ EPs is beyond me.
Now don’t think for a minute I don’t like German thrash – I actually love it and it’s great that bands like Sodom, Destruction, Exumer, Assassin & Kreator are still doing their ‘thing’ apparently unconcerned with whatever naff trend is bleeding through the staples of Kerrap! or Metal Hammer (although Destruction have had a couple of speed wobbles along the way). I’ve been a fan of Destruction since the ‘Sentence Of Death’ EP (and if you haven’t seen that album cover….imagine triplets born of an unholy Jager soaked bumfeast between ‘Morbid Tales’ era Celtic Frost & Poison. Pure evil…. with a hint of eyeliner & lippy!) and count myself lucky enough to own most of the bands thirty two year spanning catalogue. ‘Under Attack’ is the follow up to 2012’s ‘Spiritual Genocide’ and, frankly, buries it!
Where ‘Spiritual Genocide’, while not crap, lacked a bit of ‘zing’ and felt rushed, ‘Under Attack’ is a return to blistering form. Mike Sifringer’s riffs cut like rusty barbed wire soaked in petrol and set ablaze – tracks like ’Generation Nevermore’ & ‘Dethroned’ are some of the catchiest tracks Destruction have written. Frontman Schmier sounds better than ever, seemingly improving with age and he sounds a lot more like he did on the 2014’s Panzer album (which was fucking brilliant) than say ‘Release From Agony’. His unmistakeable malevolent snarl drips all over the songs and really brings the material to life.
Schmier has stated that they really took their time making this record and it really shows. The song-writing is more effective than previous recent efforts and shows a focus and maturity that had been absent in the past. Don’t think they’ve slowed down or gone all ‘pipe & slippers’ though, despite the band members advancing years they’re capable of thrashing with the energy of younger acts like Municipal Waste & Evile which tracks like ‘Second To None’ and the title track amply illustrate.
You’ll no doubt read other reviews on websites run by halfwits where they’ll use terms like “doesn’t break new ground” or “doesn’t re-invent the wheel” well fuck them, I don’t need the wheel re-invented…. I like mine round and I like my German thrash metal to sound like this.
Simply put, these Mad Butchers are back. Buy it.
(8.5/10 Mark Eve)
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