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Destruktor > Nailed > Reviews
Destruktor - Nailed

The hammer and the cross!!! - 90%

guyofmetal, March 26th, 2012

This is only my third review for MA, and I decided to go with Destruktor's "Nailed" LP. This unholy horde hails from Kangaroo Flat, Australia (what a name, eh?). The band has been around since 1995, and is just now getting around to releasing their first full length aural assault. This is a rare example of a band that bowed to no pressure whatsoever, as they spent nearly 15 years releasing splits, EP's, and a demo, while retaining their signature brand of Aussie brutality. I picked this blasphemous piece of black art up about a year ago at the Amoeba record store in San Fransisco (along with Blasphemic Cruelty's "Devil's Mayhem" LP, and Tormentor's "Anno Domini"). It was one of those albums that I'd seen Hell's Headbangers promote the living fuck out of, and I guess it ended up working (on me at least).

So let's begin with the cover art shall we? We have appears to be 3 begoated demons torturing an anguished christlike figure atop a pile of skulls, which in turn are all engraved with inverted crosses. Stereotypical? Yes. Metal? Yes. Brutal? You bet your ever-lovin' tushy it is. Which brings me to the music. When I finally arrived home with this monster, I impaled the disc on my ghetto turntable, dropped the needle, and kept one hand safely placed on the volume knob, poised and ready to turn it down, should the brutality be too loud as to disrupt everyone in my immediate vicinity. You can imagine my surprise then that the standard volume was low. No matter, I cranked it to 11, sat back and prepared to enjoy.

This first song "Embrace the Fire" slowly inches its way from the LP's grooves, and oozes out of the speakers in an almost mocking fashion. It knows something you don't. If the music had a physical face, it would bear an expression so smug, a grin so shit-eating, a smile so warped, you'd be foolish not to suspect it was up to something. But it bears no such features. So, just as you become semi comfortable with what is being projected from your speakers, the song explodes, catching you completely off guard. It wraps a spiked arm around your pathetic little neck and forces you to look into that decrepit, black thing you call a soul. Gaze into the brutal abyss that is Destruktor. Then we have "Violence Unseen", and "The Epitome", the latter being one of my favorite tracks off the album. The riff midway through is gold goddammit, gold! Destruktor's sound, in literal terms is similar to that of Blasphemy and Bestial Warlust, albeit a bit more tame. While both the aforementioned bands play war/black/whatever the fuck you wanna call it metal, Destruktor incorporates more of an old school death metal vibe into their twisted creations. One who is not completely deaf can also hear a healthy dose of old school black metal influence too, as some of the riffs sound (gasp!) a tad melancholic. "Inspiration Suicide" ends side one on a deathly, brutal, and savage note.

Onto side two. We start with "After Death Murmurs", which would have been a personal favorite of mine, had it not been for the 3 tracks that followed it. "Nailed" (the title cut, you moron...) is hands down my favorite song on the disc. It possesses this pure black energy that grabs you by that pathetic Metallica shirt you're wearing and goes right for the fuckin' jugular. Just listen to that chorus! Damn! Anyway, to properly appreciate the brutality, one must hear it for oneself. "Endless Reign of Terror" and "Meccademon" are my other 2 favorites. The intro to "Endless..." incorporates that blasphemous use of slightly melancholic riffing I referred to earlier, and expands upon it, to create something even more deadly.”Mecademon" follows, and slays the listener with its brilliant intro riff. Seriously folks, you can't help but headbang to this shit, it's crazy. The album is closed off by the savage "Spawning the Immortal" (SWEET song title...). The main riff invokes terror, the voice of Glenn causes dread, and blasts of Jahred leads to banging... of the head. All in all, a great way to close the album.

So what are you doing still reading this? Why are you not out at your record store of choice picking up this slab of rancid Aussie meat (sound wrong? GOOD.)? Overall I'd give this record a 90%. Black? Yes. Savage? Yes. Brutal? Hell-fuckin' yes! Buy or die!!!

Destruktor - Nailed - 85%

ThrashManiacAYD, December 1st, 2009

Some records don't need a big build up nor over-analysis and this Destruktor album is one of them. This bunch of Aussies are finally releasing a full length and not before time for their Metal Archives page rates they formed in 1995 and have issued just a few splits and EPs down the years before we now finally have "Nailed".

I have one of those EPs, 2004's "Nuclear Storm" and the difference of 5 years sees not only a slight change in style but a grand improvement in all-round performance too. While "Nuclear Storm" was essentially an average Deströyer 666 clone, albeit with a good foot-tapping tendency, "Nailed" significantly ups the death metal in their black/death metal mixture pushing the band closer to what I imagine is meant by people in the underground when they refer to the genre 'war metal'. Now I don't give a shit about nonsensical genres like that but in an Angelcorpse and Sinister sorta way the unholy racket Destruktor hammer out here has the sound of a band with severe intent and a know-how for writing songs heavy on the old-school death metal vibe interlaced with some (un)healthy dollops of black and thrash metal.

Vocalist Glenn Destruktor now possesses a much rawer more brutal voice than he did on "Nuclear Storm", a change which I personally prefer given how it fits mightily amongst some damn good death metal action here. As evidenced by the likes of "After Death Murmors" and with the Mayhem-like intro to "Embrace The Fire" Destruktor can do more than pen simple monotone death-metal-by-numbers, a tactic used and abused by countless others, and this results in one of the best albums of this style I've heard in quite some time. The standard, though high throughout the album's 10 songs, moves further skywards come the latter stages of the album with "Endless Reign Of Terror", "After Death Murmors" and "Spawning The Immortal" ending the album on a real high, leaving the verdict that alongside Tribulation's brilliant "The Horror" from earlier this year "Nailed" ranks as one of this year's best death metal albums and is one I am sure to be playing again now it's review it written.

Originally written for www.Rockfreaks.net

A 45 minute tour of the abyss - 75%

autothrall, October 22nd, 2009

Australia's been pretty pissed lately, and Destruktor is yet another piece of evidence. Another band performing in old school territory has made their way to Hell's Headbangers records and then to your stereo. After a few splits and EPs, Nailed is this band's first stab at a full-length, and a successful puncture wound. Unlike most of the label's acts, this is more of a pure death metal album with a grinding production that recalls a little Bolt Thrower, a little Pestilence, among others. There are some hints at black and thrash metal, but it's largely a meatgrinder.

Glenn Destruktor's vocals are a blunt and monotonous object that repeatedly hammers the back of your neck while the hell fueled grinding rhythms eviscerate your ears. The album opens with "Embrace the Fire", an almost mystical introduction with acoustic guitars over some fine heavier riffing, before it just lets you have it. After this, it's all down hill, and by down hill I mean hell, with each track a blasting, grinding descent into the depths. "The Epitome", "Violence Unseen", "Meccademon", and "Endless Reign of Terror" are all choice tracks here which had me dreaming of the early 90s and the creepy inspiration that real death metal once possessed in spades. Nailed is a fine debut album that should appeal to fans of similar acts like Deströyer 666, or the early years of European death metal. Individually, the tracks don't have a ton of staying power, but as a whole the album is good if you're looking for a 45 minute tour of the abyss.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Jesus, eat my feces. - 84%

Shadespawn, July 16th, 2009

Jesus fucking christ! But seriously, have you ever heard the one about that guy who died for all our sins, so that our invisible souls will rise up into the sky, to exist in eternal peace, without sin, murder, pain, animals or rocks? It's a very nice bedtime story you should check out. That and "Les Stroumpfs". Very good material.

Now what does that have to do with the music found on this little CD? DESTRUKTOR, an Australian extreme heavy metal band have about everything to do with themes both Jesus Christ and Papa Smurf would hate. Blasmephy, fire and eternal hate. These are the themes most bands of this genre talk about. Themes that are about all the things your everyday locker jock would normally would not like to hear, them either being unpleasant or "bad" as defined by their strict virtuous moral codex. This CD is all about the negativity created by modernism; a simple, yet effective formula that reminds of the times when heavy metal actually meant something, when it wasn't popularized by the whole advertising crap that you got today, with band members presenting themselves as popstars with makeup and brand clothing. DESTRUKTOR deliver balls out, direct and authentic oldschool black metal, with a minimalistic, yet awe-inspiring killer attitude. There are also various death metal influences identifiable, such as the deep guttural vocals or the thudding guitar tone. Actually it's a kind of those hybrid attempts in mixing death metal with black metal, but with an extraordinary result, as most newer bands of the 21st century all have their bland and crystal clear production, with the 10000 layers of the various instruments, then a little shitting here and there and voila, there you have your new mechanic, unorganic and lifeless "modern" metal. There are many examples for that kind of stuff, which is material for other reviews. DESTRUKTOR are far from that, which is surprisingly good.

This CD is pure blasphemy in it's purest form. It's nice to see that the metal scene isn't a dried out corpse just yet, and that there still are bands who play in the vein of the old masters, such as CELTIC FROST, BATHORY or POSSESSED. This CD has a lot of moments where the aforementioned bands make a sort of background appearance. Let's call this a good and respectful homage, as DESTRUKTOR have their own individual note, so I'm not saying they are copycats. Their music ranges from very minimalistic to average technical wanking, which is by all means not bland, nor boring or negative in any way. The point is, that they are no MORBID ANGEL or DEATH, but manage to carry out their ideas quite well. There are riffs who repeat themselves endlessly, hitting the same tone scale over and over again, boring you into oblivion, but you won't find that uninspired crap here. Overall it's a above average,.. no, let's say good CD with a nice comfortable tune and great vocals. I give it a plus and my personal seal of approval.

(Originally written for http://www.metal-observer.com/)