Destructor is a thrash metal band from the USA formed in 1984 releasing their debut album ‘Maximum Destruction’ in 1985, disbanding in 1988 after the death of their bass player Dave “Holocaust” Iannicca. Reforming a decade later, the band have gone on to release a further five albums – ‘Sonic Bullet’ (2003), ‘Forever In Leather’ (2007), ‘Back In Bondage’ (2016), ‘Decibel Casualties’ (2017) and ‘Blood, Bone, And Fire’…
…emerging in 2023 – six years after the band’s previous release! Yet the six-year gap has not diminished the band’s fiery nature, the new album just as heavy, thrashy and head bang-able as all the others. Maybe even a bit more! ‘Blood, Bone, And Fire’ features nine songs in just thirty-five fast-paced minutes, opening with the title song ‘Blood, Bone, And Fire’. Destructors are quickly into their stride, powering on with an incredible amount of thunder, fire and brimstone – ‘Blood, Bone, And Fire’ (the song) shuddering the ground and crumbling walls! The band are ferocious here, the intensity level sky-high, and Destructor is back – and meaner than ever before.
And without breaking their stride, Destructor moves on swiftly with ‘Iron Clad’, a thundering cacophony of all-out thrash to vigorously bang the head of every single listener everywhere. The band are hitting hard, the opening double salvo smashing great big fucking holes in every concrete structure known to man! Nothing and nowhere is safe from the brutal onslaught, ‘Blood, Bone, And Fire’ (the album) marching on with (the prophetically titled) ‘Storm Upon The World’ – massive ripples appearing across the surface of the Earth! The blend of heavy thrash and foot stomping attitude oozing from ‘Storm Upon The World’ is overwhelming, the level of headbang ability rocketing right off the fucking charts! And with an electrifying upturn in speed, ‘Never Surrender’ blasts off at high velocity, the blistering pace banging heads faster than is humanly possible! The band are a gear-changing tempo changing force of nature here, ‘Never Surrender’ a brutal battering to take listeners breaths away!
And hitting with all the hallmarks of traditional heavy metal, ‘Depths Of Insanity’ plants its feet firmly on the monitor, echoing the iconic NWOBHM to a tee – although when the band accelerate to top speed across the chorus break, ‘Depths Of Insanity’ hops back over the border wall into thrash metal territory! What a song, I simply love these genre-hopping songs – ‘The Calling’ returning the electrifying speed heard earlier! Destructor has maintained an incredibly high level of intensity since the album began, ‘The Calling’ stretching its legs to cruise majestically to a close. In the process identify itself as an instrumental – the sound of traditional metal taking front and centre courtesy of the heavy-hitting ‘Heroic Age’. And when I say heavy hitting, I mean a thrash-infused blend of old school heavy metal, the band once again jumping border walls to deliver a barnstorming barrage of metal that a wide array of fans are gonna thoroughly enjoy.
And still, there’s no sign of a breather coming any time soon, Destructor motoring on with ‘Hammering The Steel’, keeping the pedal well and truly pressed to the metal! Blistering pace and a raging thunderstorm of thrash, ‘Blood, Bone, And Fire’ (the album) is a relentless, in-your-face and savage display of how thrash metal should sound – and considering Destructor were formed during the mid-eighties when thrash was still in its infancy, it’s not surprising the band sound so fucking good! The album comes to an end with the devastating ‘Dominate’, maintaining the album’s unbroken level of intensity, banging heads just as hard now as they were when the album began!
Overall, an unrelenting barrage of savage thrash metal, Destructor has delivered a bruising cacophony of head-bang ability.
TRACKLIST
Blood, Bone, And Fire
Iron Clad
Storm Upon The World
Never Surrender
Depths Of Insanity
The Calling
Heroic Age
Hammering The Steel
Dominate
Destructor: Facebook
Release Year: 2023
Label: Shadow Kingdom
Category: Album
Country: USA
Reviewed by Iron Mathew for Frenzy Fire and Metal-Roos.
