Although I am not much of a DESTRUCTION fan, I have to admit that the Germans are persistent and devoted to what they do, and it appears that this persistency and devotion has paid back. “Under Attack” is the album No 14 for the thrash metal veterans, and despite the fact that it doesn’t move far away from their original songwriting patterns, it delivers some really good and interesting material.
The self-titled track opens the album smoothly with an acoustic intro and a relatively mellow sound, while it gradually becomes more and more aggressive. The tempo speeds up, the guitars kick in hard and Schmier attacks you with his vicious vocals. A little bit further, Mike Sifringer offers some of his meanest riffs and solos in “Dethroned”, while in “Elegant Pigs” we hear Wawrzyniec “Vaaver” Dramowicz bursting upon his drum kit having his best moment in the album. Also, in the limited edition of the album you will find a very interesting cover of VENOM’s classic song “Black Metal”, featuring KRISIUN’s Alex Camargo on vocals.
On the other hand, the album doesn’t come without some less interesting moments, like “Generation Nevermore” where the chorus sounds a bit flat, and “Stand Up For What You Deliver” which has an anthemic, yet too simplistic approach. Lastly, “Thrash Attack” (also in the limited edition of the album) with its cheesy-as-hell title, reminds us why DESTRUCTION will always be on the third place of the so called “Big Teutonic 4”.
But in comparison, the pros are more than the cons. The songs may not give us something we haven’t heard from DESTRUCTION before, but the band’s performance is passionate and there’s some really good job done in the mixing and mastering by V.O. Pulver. All these make “Under Attack” a worthwhile listen. A decent effort that contains pretty much everything you expect to hear from Schmier and his company and won’t disappoint anyone, especially the longtime fans of the band who will rush to praise it.
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