Band:	Destruction
Album:	Day Of Reckoning
Style:	Teutonic thrash metal
Release date:	February 2011

01. The Price [feat. Ol Drake]
02. Hate Is My Fuel
03. Armageddonizer
04. Devil's Advocate [feat. Ol Drake]
05. Day Of Reckoning
06. Sorcerer Of Black Magic [feat. Ol Drake]
07. Misfit
08. The Demon Is God
09. Church Of Disgust
10. Destroyer Or Creator
11. Sheep Of The Regime [feat. Ol Drake]
12. Stand Up And Shout [feat. Ol Drake] [Dio cover] [Limited Edition bonus]
13. The Price [demo] [North American bonus]

Destruction are veteran thrash metallers, one part of the "Big 3" of German thrash. All these bands have actually had pretty great releases in recent days, as Sodom's last album was great and Kreator's most recent kicked a good amount of ass, too. Unfortunately, I don't think I can say the same about the latest release from Destruction, Day of Reckoning.


I'll start off with some positives. The band has a new drummer, and he knows how to pound those skins. Pound them furiously. In the opening seconds of "The Price" we can already hear that Wawrzyniec "Vaaver" Dramowicz (trying saying that name ten times fast!) is going to be laying down some fast and crazy drumwork throughout this album. A fresh new addition like him was a good choice for a long-time band. The other positive part about the album is that if you like thrash metal, you'll probably at least think it doesn't suck. And if you like Destruction, you'll probably at least think this album doesn't suck.

Now onto what I thought brought this one down. The songs on this album are not very memorable. "The Price" is one of the only ones that has really stuck with me, and even then, it's not an amazing song. To me this album seems very uninspired, and seems like something that isn't trailblazing, isn't exploring new things, and other than their new drummer, doesn't have much setting it apart from the pack. It has some energy, it has a little bit of bite, but it's not memorable, the songs aren't exploring any really interesting ideas, and they seem pretty weak considering how many times the subject matter has been covered by not even just other bands, but Destruction themselves. "Sorcerer of Black Magic"? Didn't Slayer have a song with the same name (minus the first two words) that was about 10 times better? "Church of Disgust"... Wow, metal music that is against religion, haven't heard that before. This combination of songs that aren't really covering interesting topics considering the context and music that is really quite standard fare for thrash made this one very average experience for me.

At the end of the day, though, this isn't a bad album; it could have easily been much worse and I have to commend Destruction for what they did on Day of Reckoning. They have the thrash formula down, and they put out an album that should please fans. And, while some songs lack being memorable or original, it is a pretty fun album to thrash along with. The production is satisfactory (although I found the guitars could have used a bit more punch) and it's nice to see that the old timers are still keeping up with the young bands and putting out enjoyable albums. I just can't say this one is as good as the latest from Sodom or Kreator.

So, the final word on this one: If you like German thrash, you might as well give it a try. If you're looking to be blown away, you might be a little disappointed.