Destruction - Diabolical (2022)

Destruction has settled so comfortably into its post-reunion niche by this point that it's their game to lose, and while they've had a steady flood of albums and enormous productivity over the last 20+ years, it did seem to peak quite early with 2001's The Antichrist, and since then there have been only minor deviations within the more ironclad style they've been adopting. The production has been pounding, the band's energy and aggression still unquestionable, but at the same time they've not ever felt quite so clinical or creative as they did on some of their earlier offerings during the initial run. Diabolical doesn't exactly fix this, but while it's still consistent with the half-dozen albums that precede it, I felt like there was a little more flexibility and variation to be had on this one, and it's easily one of their more enjoyable since being hammered by the immortal choruses of "Thrash 'Til Death" or "Nailed to the Cross".

Perhaps some small part of this is attributed to being the first album without Mike playing guitars, but to be honest the riffing here sticks quite closely to his style, and you can only notice marginal differences in how the duo of Damir and Furia handles the attack. A lot of the progressions will seem familiar if you've been listening over the last two decades, but there are enough differences to keep the formula refreshed. The songs are generally fast and busy, and the band never really goes for cheap or obvious chorus parts. Riffs aren't the stickiest to the ear, but they pound so relentlessly that I never found myself remotely bored listening through. The solos here are great in tracks like "Repent Your Sins", wild melodic forays that immediately add another level of depth to the usual neck-jerking, and often they are the true climactic moments throughout the album, which is frankly rare these days. To the surprise of no one, Schmier still sounds absolutely fucking awesome, that nasty blend of rasp and melody proves the perfect frontman and he frankly murders the rest of the German thrash veterans in delivery. Did he really record all these vocals back in the early 2000s and is just slowly rationing them out on each album, because it's hard to believe!

They do actually bring back a few, slightly technical riffing and popping patterns which remind me of their early years (the pre-chorus to "Whorefication" for example), and certainly the shredding is top flight compared to any of their prior efforts. Randy Black's drumming continues its machine-like intensity and he's constantly fluttering out great fills that clap and snap along with the frenzy. There are a lot of good tunes here, but favorites might include "The Last of a Dying Breed" with the atmospheric, maniacal framing of its intro, or "The Lonely Wolf" with its churning rhythmic battery that sounds almost like a German Testament. A couple guitars here or there sound somewhat derivative (pin the tail on the Slayer riff), but as originators themselves, I can forgive this, and the fact that a band so deep into its career has such infernal energy as I'm hearing on this record is rather impressive. The cover of GBH's "City Baby Attacked by Rats" is a great touch, and they definitely put a thrashier Destruction spin to it, while the cover art here makes for a perfect tribute to all your nuclear mutant metal-punk Troma film dreams, as the Butcher leers on in the background. Much like Sodom with their latest, Schmier and company just know how to kill it and I hope they never stop!

Verdict: Win [8.5/10]

https://www.destruction.de/