Forever in Leather

Back in 1985, the ruffians of Destructor released their debut called "Maximum Destruction". It distinguished itself by its very remarkable title track. I just say "Uaaaaaaaaaaaaaah". Those of you who are familiar with this thrash colossus know what I mean. But probably inter alia because of the death of bass player Dave Holocaust, the group was not able to deliver a second album during the peak phase of thrash (by the way, the here described working result is dedicated to Dave and I appreciate this nice gesture. Almost 20 years after his death, this is no matter of course!). In any event, it took goddamned 18 years to publish a further full-length (with only six new tracks). But lo and behold, the band members obviously turned to workaholics between 2003 and 2007. The result of their newly gained eagerness was called "Forever in Leather".

What can I say, the album is a killing machine. It is mind-blowing, breathtaking, groundbreaking... You can add further attributes of this category and continue the list endlessly. All your additions will most likely be appropriate to describe this tremendous record. I do not know "Sonic Bullet" so far, but I guess the here presented album constitutes Destructor´s sonic atom bomb. Right from the beginning, it bares its teeth in a terrifying manner. The full sound bursts out of the speakers and to call it massive would be an understatement. Its maximum density and the voluminous intensity have the power to pulverize your living room in a matter of minutes. The six strings, the double bass, the vocals - in a nutshell, everything works. Destructor´s infectious joy of heavy metal will not fail to have an effect on you. But although I have written "heavy metal", the four-piece does not play the traditional style of our most favourite music. They still keep on thrashing. Nonetheless, the heaviness of "Forever in Leather" constitutes one of its most outstanding features. It is almost unnecessary to compose good songs as long as you have the possibility to fall back on such an overwhelming wall of sound. Be that as it may, this way of recording means that the band does not follow the Bay Area approach. Razor-sharp riffs in the tradition of Exodus or Slayer are not included. But their absence is compensated by the severity of the sound.

In any case, there is no doubt that Destructor has written eleven good or even phenomenal songs. They celebrate a thrash metal feast without neglecting the necessary degree of variety. For example, just compare the mighty and relatively epic opener with the following torpedo called "Skull Splitter". In view of its rapid and straightforward approach, it cannot be confused with the complex first track. Nevertheless, what both songs have in common is that they score with their vehemence and robustness.

The vigorous voice of Dave Overkill enriches the tracks and the other guys also make their contribution in an outstanding manner. Thrash maniacs will surely share my point of view as soon as they listen to Matt Flammable´s unusual drum parts in "Damage Control" or Pat Rabid´s evocative riffing at the beginning of "Unleashed". Speaking of the riffs, it goes without saying that they create a dark and menacing aura. In particular "Precision Devastation" puts the emphasis on this threatening atmosphere, while the subsequent "Unearth the Earth" focuses on its galloping guitar lines. Not to mention the powerful guitar solos. They are well executed and do not lack of pressure. "Doomed to Centuries of Ice", for instance, confirms this statement.

Despite the aforementioned variety, "Forever in Leather" collects plus points with regard to its homogeneity. The album does not suffer from unsuitable breaks, calm interludes or any external impacts. It represents a monolithic work that does not take care of the chameleon-like asshole called zeitgeist. Destructor´s authenticity is beyond doubt. The same applies to the quality of "Forever in Leather" which ends with a special tune. "Pounding Warriors" displays the result of a teamwork. It has been composed by Destructor and the German thrashers of Witchburner. My Teutonic compatriots have released this speedy old school piece on their strong full-length "Final Detonation". I recommend to check also their way of implementation, because I appreciate both versions very much.

Destructor is one of the most overlooked power/thrash metal bands of all time, yet that shouldn't be any excuse not to enjoy them. They're one of the few bands in metal history to make a few changes with their sound, and still manage to keep their fans. In fact, their 2007 album, "Forever in Leather" just might be one of their best efforts. That means that when I found this at a record store in Mankato, MN, I surely struck gold. Even if you don't own a copy of "Maximum Destruction", or if you haven't listened to Destructor yet, you'll still get the powerful, driving metal sound that you strive for when looking for an album when you listen to "Forever in Leather". Power metal fans and thrash metal fans alike would enjoy this album, for it contains elements of both subgenres.

Are you a thrasher looking for massive juggernaut-like songs that involve war and destruction? Well, this album's filled to the brim with them! You can find all the trademarks of thrash in terms of hyper-fast time signatures, and angry, crunching riffs. You can find all of the lyrical trademarks of thrash here too, with songs such as "Skull Splitter" (about booze) and "Precision Devastation" (obviously about destruction and war) being ones that you could expect to find on any thrash metal album. All of the songs on this album are tuned down lower than any typical thrash metal song, making them heavier and adding to the awesome power of it. Thrash metal bands from the 80's that are active today tend to tune their songs down lower, especially when they create new albums. I have no idea why they do that, but I assume either to appease the younger crowds of today's generation or simply cos the bands' singers couldn't sing higher than they used to. Whatever the reason, when Destructor did it, they pulled it off nicely, and created an album truly worth searching for.

Since Destructor is a power/thrash metal band, thrash isn't the only subgenre that has aspects found in "Forever in Leather". While some of the songs are harsh, perfect for thrash metal, others are more melodic in nature. For example, the title track is speedy, but it also has a triumphant and glorious tone to it, glorifying metal, the fans, and their solidarity through the decades. The lyrics that speak of metal's glory and power are typical trademarks of power metal, as many power metal bands (most famously, Manowar) have these kinds of lyrics. This is the sort of thing that brings variety to this album. It's not just for thrashers to enjoy, power metallers can easily bask in the amazing, pounding force that makes up this album. Also adding to the variety is one particular track, "Doomed to Centuries in Ice", which starts off with a soft, cold, eerie-sounding intro that brings to mind the freezing plains of the Antarctic. Then it kicks into gear with a slower tempo which gives it a lurching feeling, as if the song was frozen in place. It's a song like this that gives the listener a break from all those blindingly fast tempos from all of the other songs.

"Forever in Leather" is one of those albums that is quite often overlooked, but is too essential to miss. The reason being that its thrash metal heritage mingles with that of old school power metal, making it a must-have for all metal album collectors like myself. Destructor has done quite a great job in making an album to please both the thrash and power metal crowds, cos here, the elements of thrash and power metal go together just as well as beer and concerts do. You don't have to be a die-hard fan of Destructor to truly appreciate this album. It's a fine masterpiece that would definitely make a great addition to your collection.

"Retro Thrash" is a term you might see thrown around these days when people talk about modern thrash fitted by some old school gloves, basically being the classic thrash influenced bands popping up lately. Many classic thrash bands themselves are still kicking around or making "comeback" albums like Artillery's B.A.C.K., Flots & Jets' My God or Dreams of Death, Paradox, etc, these are just totally random bands off the top of my head. Point is, can you listen to those albums back to back with their earliest releases and see similarities? Can you feel the same "passion" and "heart" put into the music after all the years? Could you truly call them the same band? Sometimes these comebacks work and often times they don't. Yeah, there's no problem with evolving or anything but it never hurts when a band can stomp around 20+ years later with the same kind of stuff they were playing when they first started and still totally kickass at doing so. That, is Destructor. The beast that was Maximum Destruction is still alive.

Forever in Leather just blows me away with this aspect. This is so unmistakably -Destructor- it's not even funny. I mean hell, did Dave Just's voice even age at all? Often people will say that about older vocalists who have been around for awhile but damn, I can't stress this point enough that he seriously sounds just like he did back with their 80's releases. Those powerful scratchy screams, the thick enforcing Harry Conklin-esque mid range, it's undeniably Dave "Overkill" Just" (and if you put him up against "modern" Harry Conklin, I'd probably have to side with Just here. There's way more power to his singing). Another absolute winning factor here is the production which again, sounds just like Destructor! Would you have guessed? The guitars are really thick and a bit muffled, still containing that raw and metallic edge they had back in the day and on older album recordings. Both the drums and bass are a little muffled in this heaviness too but in the end, production wise you could easily put this next to Destructor's earlier releases and only notice a few changes. Some might be disappointed by this but those who want an old school mix here will probably be very pleased.

Immortal metal
It can never die
Forever in Leather
Metal! Will stay alive

Destructor doesn't mess around here. There really isn't a throw away track here at all. But you might be asking, "why the slightly lower rating?" Well, it does have its slight issues. I don't want to say that their formula is running out of juice or whatnot (that'd be contradicting my whole review here), but as an album itself the structures to the majority of the songs are fairly simple and often a little too similar. Then again, maybe that's just another huge bonus for those looking for some true old school thrash? This is straight up nonstop heavy as hell traditional / thrash with no sign of them trying to be overly fancy or anything. It just might take a few listens for some tracks to stand out on their own. There's certainly some unforgettable numbers right off the bat though. The second track Skull Splitter is an absolute no brainer, with it's midpoint (01:25 - 01:50, or really up until ~02:50) exploding into pure chaos like the classic over the top Destructor they were back then. Drums build up relentlessly, the unstoppable riffs get heavier and continue to chugg along while solo's slice up the arena. This happens throughout a lot of the songs because again, that's just what they loved to do. Tracks from their older material like the self-titled Maximum Destruction and Bring Down The Hammer could be noted as blueprints for a good chunk of the songs here. A lot of them are pretty catchy with awesome choruses that Dave Just delivers perfectly. Song after song it's nothing but a rock solid boot to the face. The final number Pounding Warriors (spiritual sequel to Pounding Evil?) is probably the one track that constantly reaches the intensity of most things off their debut.

If there were one band that could truly Tear Down the Heavens, it'd probably be these crazy motherfuckers. This is without a doubt one of the best thrash releases to come out post the 1990's. An album released in 2007 that could go perfectly along with their debut from 1985 and wouldn't sound "odd" back to back at all. It might not be quite as diverse as the debut, but in terms of style and sound it'd probably be impossible for the band to be any more dead on than they were here. You can't get much more "true" than this. This, is Destructor; whom will truly be cemented Forever In Leather. If only more knew about their legacy.