Destruction - The Antichrist

[Rodrigo]

DESTRUCTION – THE ANTICHRIST
Nuclear Blast - 2001

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By Rodrigo

On the heels of the successful return by Destruction with the album All Hell Breaks Loose comes the highly anticipating and richly rewarding The Antichrist. Once again the band used the talents of producer Peter Tägtgren and recorded their latest thrash onslaught at Abyss Studios. A big complaint that I have been hearing from people regarding albums produced at Abyss is that they all sound cold and mechanical. Well if the sound of this album doesn’t change peoples minds then nothing will because The Antichrist sounds huge, loud and utterly powerful. Schmier’s vocals are extremely aggressive, the guitars of Mike Sifringer are razor sharp and it feels like they are literally cutting through your body, and the drumming of Sven Vormann is tight and energetic. The Antichrist proves that the success of All Hell Breaks Loose wasn’t a fluke and shows to the world that Destruction is truly back!

Just listen to the killer opening song "Thrash Till Death". Like the title suggests this is an ode to thrash metal and it is a perfect highflying song. "Nailed to the Cross" is the next song and the chorus is awesome. I want to scream along with Schmier during this part and I hope I get the chance. An interesting part of this song is right at 2:11 because it really reminds me of a Red Hot Chili Peppers song due to the fact of how the bass sounds really funky and groovy. "Dictators of Cruelty" opens up with an excellent melodic guitar riff and superb drumming. It also features an excellent guitar solo right after the second chorus. "Bullets From Hell" is the best song of the album and destined to be a classic. It has a slower tempo during the verses but as soon as the bridge starts the band just speeds up into unbelievably fast levels. Once again Schmier belts out the chorus with a lot of aggression and conviction and its another song that I want to scream along with. This song changes tempos without notice and never once does Destruction miss a beat. "Meet Your Destiny" is the slowest song of the album for the first 2/3 of it but right after the second chorus, the usual Destruction speed appears. Finally "The Heretic" is another awesome song due to the great drumming throughout it and the music during the chorus is simply amazing. The fast guitars are excellent and the singing is fantastic. This song perfectly ends the album but every single time I hear it, I am always left with the fact that I want more music.

All thrash fans must own this album! It is as simple as that and there should be no doubt with anyone that Destruction is once again a force to be reckoned with. Get this album or face the wrath of The Antichrist!

[The Wanderer]

dude, mentioning the red hot chili peppers song in a destruction review is a grave grave offense. you should have unholy things done to you in your sleep by red hot chili peppers.

nice review though. that album totally kills.

[Rodrigo]

I knew I would get a comment about that. But you have to admit that the part I was talking about does resemble the RHCP in a way.

[Van Alan]

German thrashers, Destruction, respond with a new effort The Antichrist a year after their triumphant return. Once Again the CD was produced by Peter Tägtgren of Hypocrisy, but it sounds like Peter and Destruction went for a rougher, buzz-saw style this time around contrasting the slick (but still loud and 100% thrash) approach found on last years All Hell Breaks Loose. The rougher, combative guitars, along with the artwork reference Destruction's main focus, to bring back the Infernal Overkill days of old. Needless to say they accomplish that task with ease, one listen to the CD will confirm that fact. Fans of Destruction's darker lyrics are also in luck here. 'Creations Of The Underworld' and 'Nailed To The Cross' are two songs responsible for bringing back some of the slanderous words, a blasphemed writing style absent from the previous effort. On the downside, I could live without the few and sparse distorted vocals on 'Godfather Of Slander', but other than that this is a pretty standard CD from Destruction, and that is a good thing! 'Thrash Till Death' pulls references from Destruction anthems of old with a 'Bestial Invasion' that "explodes in our evil souls" while the guitar, bass and vocal structures are as sinister as ever. There is nothing groundbreaking here, but Destruction is doing exactly what they aim for. Their music is as outlandish providing proof that this genre of metal can survive for years to come! This CD probably won't sell many copies in the United States, but anyone with even a remote interest in thrash should check out The Antichrist or any other previous Destruction release.