Destructor: Maximum Destruction (1985)
Not to be confused with Germany’s Destruction, Cleveland, Ohio's Destructor saw their fledgling career curtailed by tragedy, leaving behind but one official studio LP in 1985’s cult-favorite Maximum Destruction.
Formed in 1983 by Dave ‘Overkill’ Just (vocals/guitar), Pat ‘Rabid’ Wolowiecki (guitar), Paul ‘Warhead’ Habat (bass), and (best of all) Matt ‘Flammable’ Schindelar (drums), Destructor clearly enjoyed some Venom before being swept up by the first wave of thrash, led by Metallica, Slayer, et al.
And the gloriously crude Maximum Destruction pretty much epitomizes those innocent, formative times for extreme metal, since Destructor’s playing was sharp but not machine-like, their songwriting predictable but fervent, and their amplifiers were always turned up to eleven.
Prefaced by a chaotic jumble of anguished groans and clanging metal called “Prelude in Sledge Minor,” the seven-minute title track is a perfect case in point, with its overdriven trad-metal riffs, sub-thrash tempos, and '80s-appropriate lyrics about nuclear holocaust, alternately screamed and sung by Dave Overkill.
The thrashing really gets underway on pimple-faced moshers like “Destructor,” “Overdose” and “Take Command,” which do their very best to mimic the lessons imparted by founding thrash texts such as Metallica’s Kill ‘em All, Slayer’s Show No Mercy, and Anthrax’s Fistful of Metal.
Somewhat less frantic, unintentionally hilarious numbers like “Pounding Evil,” “Iron Curtain” and the self-explanatory “Hot Wet Leather/Bondage” clearly weren’t going to win any literary prizes, but then, Destructor weren’t here to enlighten, they were here to ... DESTROY!
All of which makes Maximum Destruction one of those imperfect gems that only gets better with age -- though it impressed Island Records enough to sign Destructor, just as work began on a sophomore LP (tentatively titled Decibel Casualties) towards the end of 1987.
Unfortunately, on January 1st, 1988, Destructor’s dreams were crushed when Dave Holocaust was fatally stabbed outside the band’s rehearsal space by a drunken gatecrasher, sending surviving band members into an extended hiatus from which they only emerged in 1999 for sporadic touring and recording.
p.s. -- Some of these words were adapted from my Destructor bio and review of Maximum Destruction in the All-Music Guide.
More Violent Thrash: Artillery’s Fear of Tomorrow, At War’s Ordered to Kill, Blind Illusion’s The Sane Asylum, Carnivore’s Carnivore, Chakal’s Abominable Anno Domini, Dark Angel’s Darkness Descends, Destruction’s Infernal Overkill, Dorsal Atlântica’s Antes do Fim, Hirax’s Raging Violence, Holy Terror’s Terror and Submission, Infernal Majesty’s None Shall Defy, Korzus’ Pay for Your Lies, Kreator’s Pleasure to Kill, Master’s Master, Medieval’s Medieval Kills!, Morbid Saint’s Spectrum of Death, Mutilator’s Immortal Force, Nasty Savage’s Nasty Savage, Num Skull’s Ritually Abused, Overkill’s Taking Over, Razor’s Executioner’s Song, Rigor Mortis’ Rigor Mortis, Sabbat’s History of a Time to Come, Slaughter’s Strappado, Torture’s Storm Alert, Violent Force’s Malevolent Assault of Tomorrow, Whiplash’s Power and Pain, Wrathchild America’s Climbin’ the Walls.
