Destroy

Lo and behold, the Texan Justice League is back again! Warbeast were one of those bands that I'd probably have never cared that much about, except for a spin or two out of curiosity, but their debut Krush the Enemy was so consistently and suprisingly top-notch that Destroy deserved a listen at the very least, even if it had the arduous task of succeeding a nearly flawless, highly entertaining full-length. As history has shown, situations of this ilk are bound to end badly more often than not... and this is no exception.

In any case, Destroy is not short on brilliant moments. We're still dealing with 3/5 of the same lineup that brought us the excellent debut three years prior, after all. 'Nightmares in the Sky' has become sort of Warbeast's signature song and it's no wonder, thanks to a completely crazy performance by Gonzalez and a demolishing middle section, and 'Blood Moon' is fantastic, a continuous interchange of sections with the wolf howling sample being a superb addition in terms of atmosphere. From the savage riffs of these two tracks to the impossibly catchy gallop of 'Nobody' (right among Scott Shelby's top moments if you ask me), passing through the band's namesake anthem 'Warbeast' and 'War of the Worlds', Bruce Corbitt and his fellows undoubtedly took the album title to heart and admirably proceeded to apply it to the compositions. Really, if you were expecting me to say that it's blander than its predecessor, I'm happy to announce that it luckily escapes that pitfall.

And yet, this time something felt lost in the shuffle. What Destroy gains on intensity, it loses on memorability, and I can't help but think the loss of Rick Perry had something to do with it. Gone is basically every vague melodic solution (heard most notably on 'Born with a Blackened Heart'), and when the band actually tries to change something it doesn't end too well. Also, Bruce Corbitt was well alive and kicking ass back in 2013, but his performance here always seemed to me the start of a slight downward slope that accentuated on Enter the Arena, recorded however under way worse health conditions. For now, he's just starting to feel a bit strained, as well as inadequate in some moments, like the finale of 'The Day of...', the least convincing track on par with the mediocre Pantera-esque 'Egotistical Bastard'.

Then we get to the production and, sadly, this is where Destroy completely derails. We've come into an age in which one judges an extreme album in terms of sound quality, and I, for one, feel particularly guilty doing this, but really, it's a complete trainwreck, and I couldn't help but take some points off it. It's just... too much, at once. Wanting to sound heavier than the previous album at all costs rarely ends well (Cannibalised, anyone?) and this is no exception. It's a pity because the guitar tone, while isolated, sounds pretty crunchy and beefy, but there are more instruments and the blending is a total disaster, especially on the double bass passages ('Warbeast', 'Destroy'), which rival Litany's volume and drown everything else along with the rest of the drumkit. It's a triumph of the bass over the trebles, to sum up. Considering that Krush the Enemy could be criticized for a bit too much polish – I actually loved how it sounded – this one goes straight to the opposite end.

Curiously enough, the album itself summed up its ambivalences in the title-track, so it's a good place to hear what works and what doesn't, songwriting- and performance-wise, to check if the sound pleases you, and even to test your knowledge of synonyms. But really, apart from my favourite tracks (still not as strong as Krush the Enemy, mind you), I found nothing else worth more replayings.

-review written for the 7th Diamhea Memorial Review Challenge – may you rest in peace, Chris.