Metal Discharge – Destruction

Destruction may be one of the progenitors of the German thrash metal movement of the 1980s, but Metal Discharge -- an awful title that unwittingly and humorously implies a particularly painful symptom of some unnamed, fictional disease -- the group's third album since reforming in 2000, sounds painfully dated and disappointingly one-dimensional. Sure, the toothy riffs come appropriately fast and furious throughout --always one of Destruction's strong points - but every song is a borderline-annoying buzz of double-time tempos, relentlessly busy guitar work and tunelessly barked vocals (backed by gangland-style chants, usually reiterating the song title in a deluge of eyeball-rolling obviousness). Point being, these hyper-thrash polkas get tiresome over the course of 40 minutes, regardless of the professionalism of their presentation, and the poker-faced delivery of multiple clich�s during cheesy cuts such as �Rippin' the Flesh Apart" and �Historical Force Feed" (?) borders on nonsensical. Destruction has certainly built an impenetrable fortress of riffs here, but attempting any kind of siege on Metal Discharge (snicker) seems silly, and a bit pointless. ~ John Serba, All Music Guide