Customer Reviews

Metal Discharge

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I couldn't believe myself when I first heard this record. I was addicted to their last record (The Antichrist, which is a masterpiece by the way) and I had high hopes for this one. But the record even topped my hopes. It blew me away.

1- The Ravenous Beast - One of the greatest tracks ever recorded by a Thrash band ever! The guitar riff is simply amazing and Schmier's voice is amazing too.

2- Metal Discharge - This is another future classic without doubt! This riff rules!

3- Rippin' The Flesh Appart - This song is somehow different from the first two since it's more slow and melodic (but still with some fast riffs in the middle) but still rocks and is a personal favourite.

4- Fear of the Moment - This is like an old tune. Catchy riffs but the same Destruction type chorus. Great song but not the best.

5- Mortal Remains - GREAT RIFF! I love this song!! It's very catchy and so cool. Very cool song.

6- Desecrators of the New Age - The third song that have a video (the other two being the first two of the record) and without doubt a fan favourite.

7- Historical Force Feed - This riff is very much alike the riff from Mortal Remains but still the song is very good with some good bass lines. Not the best but with a great chorus.

8- Savage Symphony of Terror - The first verse says everything:
"It's inside my brain,
It drives me insane
It's eating me alive
Into the pits of black,
A faithless payback?
Evil twisted mind!!"

9- Made to Be Broken - Great bass line and a fantastic guitar riff from Mike. Schmier's voice is very strong in this one. Great little song.

10- Vendetta - It finishes this record in a high note. This song is so great I can't even express in words. Listen to it.

This record is without doubt one the greatest from 2003 and especially one the greatest from this German band. Great opportunity to own a masterpiece of Thrash Metal.

GO BUY THIS CD TODAY. TRULY AWESOME.
A THRASH BAND THAT STAYS TRUE TO
REAL METAL.5 STARS IS NOT ENOUGH
I HAVE ALL CDS BUY DESTRUCTION. IF YOUR
NEW TO THIS BAND START HERE AND YOU
WILL GET ALL DESTRUCTION

Destruction takes over where Metallica left off. Metallica ran out of steam, but Destruction keeps bulldozing along. if you have Kreator and Sodom in your collection, Destruction belongs there too. think of this as the new metal up your rectum, while Metallica is now a watery diarrhea.

Without question one of the greatest metal bands of all time and this CD reinforces that opinion. True Teutonic thrash, with unbelievable shredding and growling vocals. Every track is a stand-out.

One of the few bands that keeps true to the genre, which is easy to understand since they are undoubtedly one of leaders within it.

The few song covers on the CD are well done, especially `Whiplash', where their own thrash style adds a new dimension to an already classic song.

A must buy.

This German thrash metal based band was arguably the first thrash metal outfit in existence. They were founded back in 1982 under the name Knight of Demon. For whatever reason, the band changed their name to Destruction after only a few weeks. From then onto 1990, they had managed to release five full-length studio albums. After 1990, their involvement in the metal scene was almost totally void. Marcel "Schmier" Schirmer left the band back in 1989, but despite his departure from the band, their spirit over the silent years survived. After a decade of pretty much zero involvement in the metal scene, vocalist/ bass guitarist Schmier and rhythm/lead guitarist Mike Sifringer reunited along with a new drummer named Sven Vormann. Their "All Hell Breaks Loose" release back in 2000 was a strong comeback album by the band. "The Antichrist" was released in 2001, which also was a monumental piece of work. After "The Antichrist" was released, Sven left the band due to personal reasons. Marc Reign replaced him on drum duties. "Metal Discharge" was their follow-up, of which didn't achieve the level of success that their two predecessors received.

This album remains to fall under the thrash metal category. However, the guitar riffs were not as prevalent as was featured on their previous album. It seemed that their guitar riff structures lacked complexity and innovation to them. The music doesn't display much thought put into it, and lacks originality. Mike apparently threw together some guitar parts without putting forth many interesting qualities to them. However, the first track entitled "The Ravenous Beast" was probably the most memorable song. It has a wicked bridge/chorus section to it, and it seems as though that song is the most original sounding one. Many of the tracks on here didn't really stick in my head. I think that Mike was really lazy when he wrote the music for this release. The title track was a decent song, but still not too catchy. The riffs that were apparent on their two previous releases were more intriguing to listen to. "Rippin' the Flesh Apart" was another decent sounding track, but still not that great of a song. As the album progressed, the rest of the songs seemed to be pretty stale and monotonous.

"Savage Symphony of Terror" begins with a pathetic guitar/vocal output, though as the song continues, it works into a little bit better riff-writing structure to it. This album contains a lot of aggression, and doesn't letup any throughout its entirety. This is a good thing though; Destruction was able to put forth somewhat of an energy filled release. I just wasn't impressed with their approach here in terms of the guitar riffs. They failed to captivate me and were not at all as good as on their two previous releases. The bridge/chorus sections for all of their songs were the best album features. The songs take some time getting used to, so don't expect to be intrigued by them when you first take a listen. When I first heard it, I was totally turned off. The reason again was because their guitar work failed to capture my interest. After a few additional spins, I grew to like it a bit more.

The production/mixing sound to it exhibits a flat tone to the music and wasn't as crisp as on their two previous releases. It was difficult to hear the bass guitar, so this left Schmiers' efforts to be lacking in this department. The double bass kicks to Marc's drumming exhibits with it another example of the failure in the mixing process. The vocals, however, were quite audible and prominent. From this aspect, I'd say that it was the highlight of the album. Marc's backup vocals were also very well heard, and success for this section was well achieved. Mike's guitar rhythms/leads lacked a real crunch tone to them. Their two previous releases were examples of a better distorted guitar sound to them. Here, they failed to capture that nice crunchy guitar feature to it. If they carried that component with them on here, then I think that it would've been a stronger release sound wise.

Mike's rhythm guitar playing was much more successful than his lead guitar efforts. I say this because he doesn't seem to initiate any useful strategies when he comprised his solos for this album. It's as though his leads were merely improvised upon; this is evident the entire way through the album. His rhythm works are no doubt much stronger then his leads. It was quite a disappointment to Destruction fans, myself included. Marc's drum work was solid though despite the poor mixing. There were a lot of double bass kicks and the drum parts were formulated to fit well alongside the guitar rhythms. Schmier did a good job on vocals, but unfortunately his bass guitar work wasn't well heard again because of the poor mixing.

The lyrics focused on metal of course, and surprisingly enough politics as well. They abdicated from singing about anti-religion/Satanism topics. This is good because they were better thought out than on earlier releases. I still think that they could've been more intriguing to read, but that wasn't the case. "The Ravenous Beast" was an example of a total lack of ingenious lyrical writing. It was not only on this track, but holds true for all of them. Schmier's efforts showed his total lack of education, and poor in-depth writings. He could've taken a smarter, and less nonsensical approach to his work. However, it's better that he talks about more intriguing things than just Satanic ramblings. This album would've been a bit more interesting if he put in a broader range of writing. On another note, if you purchase the limited edition version to this album, it features a few cover songs as well as some earlier recorded demo tracks.

In conclusion, this album had some strengths and many weaknesses. This holds true for any band, but for Destruction fans, it was a total disappointment. They did not abdicate their throne in terms of putting out aggressive thrash metal, but it was difficult for the band to come up with more intriguing songs than on their two previous releases. This album really failed in putting forth effective guitar riffing that would be stunning for a listener. Mike's leads again fell short in his attempt to dish out any type of arpeggios, sweep picking and tremolo picking licks. Schmiers' vocals I still praise because of his unique sounding qualities. His voice on the album remains to be totally original. He doesn't sing like any vocalist within this thrash metal genre. This is a positive aspect to the band and album. Marc's drumming/backing vocal efforts were very well orchestrated. Because of the less than average points to the albums' overall mixing, his drum abilities didn't do him the justice that he deserved. Overall, this album fails in its efforts to persuade me to recommend it to any thrash metal fans. If you wish to hear some unique and originally sounding thrash metal music, don't pick up this one, pick up their two predecessors, "All Hell Breaks Loose" and "The Antichrist."