DESTRUCTION - Thrash Anthems
If a band has been formed in 1984, as is the case for the German thrash metal legend Destruction, it's obvious that a best-of album has to be released. Taking the songs from the corresponding albums in order to make a simple compilation wouldn't be a too original idea. So Destruction rerecorded thirteen of their classics and two new songs to make the anthology much more worthwhile.
In the Eighties, people complained that speed and thrash metal albums often had only mediocre sound quality. The current versions all have a modern and vast sound and the songs don't lose anything from their initial charm. It doesn't matter if you listen to more brutal tracks like Invincible Force, Death Trap, etc. or more technical songs like Bestial Invasion and my all-time favourite Reject Emotions, Destruction show that their speed metal has passed the test of time in a successful way. Other great smashers are Mad Butcher and Sign Of Fear, two songs I've been listening to hundreds of times two decades ago. Even Cracked Brain is sung by Schmier who left the band in 1990 before that album was recorded.
The compilation also contains two new tracks: the quite technical Desposition (Your Heads Will Roll) and Profanity, a mosher. Those two songs are located among the classic material without causing any disturbance. Destruction can still write songs like they did in the beginning of their career and have proved that their thrash metal certainly isn't trendy, but absolutely timeless.
Everyone having witnessed the birth of speed and thrash metal has no excuse to miss this great nostalgic anthology. There's also a special edition of the CD containing a bonus track and a video clip.