Destruction – "Diabolical"

It ain't broken

If you had no idea who Destruction are, and if you couldn't tell just from looking at the album cover, you'd still be able to hear within the first couple of seconds of "Diabolical's" title track that you're in for a thrash metal album. In fact, this album is so thrash metal, I'm gonna try to not use that term more than absolutely necessary here.

Anyway. Apparently, and probably rightly so, quite a few of Destruction's fans haven't taken kindly to founding member and guitar player Mike Sifringer's recent departure from the band. Some have claimed that "Diabolical" doesn't sound the same; that the sound is "sterile", and that there are triggers being used. And whatnot.

Regardless of any fanbase division, "Diabolical" is undeniably aggressive, dirty, hella tight... It's fucking metal as it should be.

But I dunno, man... To be fair, I haven't been following the band's releases. But from where I'm sitting, it sounds like a goddamn thrash metal album. Regardless of any fanbase division, Destruction's 15th long-player is undeniably aggressive, dirty, hella tight... It's fucking metal as it should be.

All of Schmier's vocal modalities – the shouting, the guttural, the growling, and the sneering – are all as hostile and unapproachable as humanly possible. Even the lead guitar, whether it's melodic, dissonant, or even bluesy, is generally frantic and neck-breaking. Just like the genre itself. And perhaps that's the whole point.

Personally, I could have gone with just a bit more variation. Side 2 does have certain elements thereof, such as the higher-end-fretboard 16th-note riffing in "Servant of the Beast"; the half-time shuffle of "The Lonely Wolf", or the slow, ominous build-up to the mid-tempo, straightforward tugboat feel of "Tormented Soul". But diversifications are few, and the overall dynamics are kept to a minimum.

While you'd be justified in preferring some more variation, there also remains a valid point to the old adage about trying to fix something if it ain't broken.

"Diabolical" should please any fan of the genre. One might rightly debate whether it could have done with some more variety, but there's no debating the professionalism here. Destruction is one of those bands whose seniority is batantly apparent – not only in their number of studio albums or years since their conception, but you can just fucking hear it, plain and simple.

This is metal written and executed by people who play metal because it's what they do best. And it's what they do best not only since they've lived it and breathed it for decades, but also because it's simply what they are. New line-up or not.

And while you'd be justified in preferring some more variation, there also remains a valid point to the old adage about trying to fix something if it ain't broken.

Rating: 4 out of 6

Genre: Thrash metal
Release date: 8/4/2022
Label: Napalm Records
Producer: Schmier