Richard HolmesDestruction – Under Attack (Nuclear Blast)
Genre: Thrash Metal
As one of the big four of Teutonic thrash, the pressure is always on Destruction to produce the goods. And while the veterans’ recent output hasn’t reached the heady heights of classics like Mad Butcher, Schmier and co. have proved time and time again that they can still cut it.
Thirty three years in the game might be pushing it a little though, even for this legendary act yet Under Attack shows no sign of tired songwriting or by-numbers delivery: Mike Sifringer, for instance, peels off riffs most thrash upstarts would kill for, with the phenomenal Second to None a real highlight. Speedy, streamlined and full of hooks so sharp they could puncture flesh, it’s Destruction at their very best, and Generation Nevermore isn’t too far behind either.
OK, so Getting Used To The Evil, which drops the pace slightly, sounds like a good idea that didn’t quite work out, and Stand Up For What Your Deliver heads in a more contemporary direction, yet feels blunt and lumbering compared to the precision strikes found elsewhere on this opus.
But for the most part, there’s an urgency to Under Attack that will get the adrenaline pumping, and the trio seem intent on going for the jugular, setting the tone with the explosive title track and (mostly) sticking to their guns from there on in.
With new albums from Germans Exumer and Desaster already doing damage, and Sodom and Kreator surely due to unleash hell on us soon, Destruction had to make a statement with this record. And they’ve done just that.
RUSHONROCK RATED: 7.5/10 Attack Formation