Reviews list for Destruction - Eternal Devastation (1986)

This German thrash three-piece released their debut, Infernal Overkill in '85, the same year as fellow countrymen Kreator's Endless Pain and Sodom's In the Sign of Evil EP. That album wasn't anything like as good as those. A year later Destruction released the follow-up, Eternal Devastation, the same year as Sodom's Obsessed by Cruelty and Kreator's Pleasure to Kill, losing out miserably to their cohorts once more.

I used to like this a bit more (probably when I had less to compare it to), but now it just sounds shabby to be honest. There's a few good riffs for sure, but the guitar tone sucks, the playing is far too loose for really great thrash and the vocals are shockingly poor. Schmier's normal gruff singing is OK, but what the hell are those dumb squeals every other line? Instead of a really well-honed machine like the very best thrashers, Destruction sound more like a bunch of enthusiastic amateurs.

Just as with the debut album, I find Destruction to be highly overrated. This album has only ok production, messy musicianship, and the vocals are at times terrible. The squeals that Marcel Schirmer comes out with throughout the album are cringeworthy to say the least. It's such a shame, because there are some decent riffs on here, but they are sporadic, and always surrounding by average ones.

I know Destruction have a lot of fans and I realise I’m in the minority, but I just don't like this all that much. If I compare it to other albums released in the same year such as Master of Puppets, Reign in Blood, Peace Sells, Darkness Descends etc. this just pales into insignificance.