Destruction – Spiritual Genocide Review

the band decided that the best way to celebrate was to get back in the studio and do what they do best......

Released By : Nuclear Blast Records

Genre : Thrash Metal

Link : http://www.destruction.de/index_en.html

 

Line Up:

Schmier – Bass, Vocals & Hate

Mike – Guitar

Vaaver – Drums

 

Tracklist:

01. Exordium

02. Cyanide

03. Spiritual Genocide

04. Renegades

05. City Of Doom

06. No Signs Of Repentance

07. To Dust You Will Decay

08. Legacy Of The Past

09. Carnivore

10. Riot Squad

11. Under Violent Sledge

 

Whilst Thrash Metal music will likely never again reach the heights of popularity it enjoyed throughout its heyday in the eighties, you’d have to say that currently the genre is in pretty darn good shape. Hell, this year alone we’ve had some great releases from legends like TESTAMENT, OVERKILL, TANKARD and KREATOR, not to mention the dozens upon dozens of newer Thrash bands flying the flag this year. And while the year quickly draws to a close, you can add one more legendary act to that list…Part of the German ‘big three’, the mighty DESTRUCTION. Didn’t they just release a new album last year? I hear you say. Yes, yes they did, and it was pretty fucking awesome too!

But 2012 marks the bands thirtieth anniversary, and while they could have taken the easy option and released a compilation or a live album, the band decided that the best way to celebrate was to get back in the studio and do what they do best…Classic, Teutonic, no-frills thrash metal. Now, I do have a couple of slight complaints about the album, but before I get into those, let it be known that I really enjoyed SPIRITUAL GENOCIDE and it is certainly a worthy addition to the band’s discography.

The first problem I had with the album was with the production. I’m not really sure whether the band were trying for an authentic eighties production, or if there just wasn’t enough time for finessing the final product, but it just doesn’t feel right. Overall it’s a little muddy really, with the drums seeming way too high in the mix and the guitar riffs seemingly getting lost in the background occasionally. It’s a little odd too, because he production on DAY OF RECKONING, the band’s previous release, was great. The other minor complaint I have is that the album doesn’t seem to have a lot of flow. One thing that sets the band’s better albums from the ret is that they had these ever-so-slight little moody patches, and an occasional experimentation with the sound, but SPIRITUAL GENOCIDE is full speed all the way, with nary a thing in the form of variation. A lot of you may class this is a good thing, but for me it kind of made big chunks of the album sound the same and a few of the middle-album tracks went by without me even noticing there was a song change.

With the complaints out of the way though let’s look at what’s good about it. Well, firstly I think it’s a great achievement when any metal band can still pump out worthwhile material after thirty years in the game. Secondly, you can look at it as a great throwback the beginnings of the genre. Back in the day things like shitty production and straightforward similar-sounding albums done in one gear were pretty normal and for that, there’s plenty to like about it. Also, I have to say that songs like RENEGADES, TO DUST YOU WILL DECAY and RIOT SQUAD will make any fan of the thrash metal sound stand up and pay attention. One last thing too, it would be remiss of me to not mention the lead guitar work of Mike Sifringer. Sure he’s always been pretty consistent, but his work here stands out as something pretty special.

With better production values and a tiny bit of variation, SPIRITUAL GENOCIDE could have been another classic album in the career of DESTRUCTION. As it stand though it’s still a great example of just how relevant Thrash Metal still is to this day. I can happily recommend this album to all of my metal brethren, just don’t expect it to be the best sounding album you’ve heard this year and you’ll be fine.

 

Rating : 8/10

Written By ZeeZee

 

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