Valkyrian Music

Band: Destruction
Album: Day of Reckoning
Release Year: 2011
Genre: Thrash Metal

Teutonic thrash metal kings “Destruction” are back with their new album “Day of Reckoning”. The band have stated that this album will go “more back to their roots”.

The album begins with “The Price” which straight away proves to be the beginning of a very promising album. The guitars just blitz the ear drums, the vocals are raw and aggressive and the drums have a good ol’ thrash styled brutality to them. The guitar solo is insanely brilliant as well.
“Hate in my Fuel” comes straight after and it carries on the thrash-styled blitz with a fast-paced and heavy intro riff. The vocals, again, are raw and aggresive sounding. Parts of this track sound as if there is some influence from old-skool Megadeth. “Armageddonizer” follows right after. It sounds slower paced compared to the last two tracks but just as heavy. The best parts of this track would have to be the bass only section followed by the guitar solo.

The track is “Devil’s Advocate” which features a brilliant use of technical riffs and speedy chugging. The vocals sound as if they’ve become more aggressive on this track as well. The guitar solo has a very old skool sound to it as well. The title track “Day of Reckoning” comes next. It’s drum intro followed by a high-pitched wailing guitar riff is just immense. The track soon turns heavy, with a great use of double bass pedal, beasty riffs and raw vocals which sound almost death metalish. This track is, without a doubt, the best track on the album.

The next “Sorceror of Black Magic” takes a heavyness up a step. Everything sounds more brutal on this track, especially the drums and vocals. The guitar solo has a slightly modern sound to it mixed with an old skool influence. “Misfit” comes next and it has taken a the heavyness down a step, though in some parts of the tracks, the drums sound as if they’re overpowering the drums. The guitar solo isn’t as impressive as the previous ones.

“The Demon is God” is next and it’s intro riff sounds a tad similar to the intro of Iron Maiden’s “Number of the Beast”. The guitar solo half through is a vast improvement compared to the one in the previous track. “Church of Disgust” is on after and it begins with an unsynchronised chanting of the Lord’s Prayer before an intro solo comes blasting in. The track sounds like it’s been slightly influenced by “Sabbat”. The vocals retain their raw and aggressive sound and the guitars and drums sound as heavy as they have been on previous tracks.

The next track is “Destroyer or Creator”. It begins with a slow but heavy intro. The tempo increases a bit once the vocals kick in. The drums sound brilliant and the short guitar solo halfway through is just epic. “Sheep of the Regime” is next and in true thrash metal style, it begins with an aggresive intro and the lyrics have a very political meaning. The final track is a cover of Dio’s “Stand Up and Shout”. While not as aggressive as the rest of the album, it still proves to be a brilliant track and a great tribute to the metal god himself.

This is an extremely enjoyable album, from the immense guitar riffs, the heavy drums, the raw vocals and the brilliant perfection. Destruction are like a fine wine – They just get better with age and this album proves it!

4.5/5

Nico Davidson

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This entry was posted on 16th February 2011 at 10:21 am and is filed under Review with tags Destruction, Iron Maiden, Number of the Beast, Teutonic Metal, Teutonic thrash metal, Thrash metal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.