Written by:	D.T. Metal
Published:	May 22, 2012
Event:	Destruction: North American 30th Anniversary Tour
Location:	Casselman's, Denver, CO, USA
Galleries:	Destruction, Warbringer, Vital Remains in Denver, CO - May 2012 by D.T. Metal (56)

Crap I'm old! I still remember Destruction playing in "Jugendzentrums" (youth centers in Germany) back in the day and now they are trekking through North America on their 30th Anniversary Tour.

Vital Remains, Warbringer, and Pathology were the chosen bands to support Destruction, but unfortunately by the time you read this, Pathology is no longer playing. As a matter of fact, they dropped off the tour after the second day because of ? you guessed it ? lack of payment for their services! To no fault of Destruction I might add, so please direct all derogatory comments to Pathology's agent and/or the promoters!

On with it; the gig was at Casselman's Bar and Venue, which is actually pretty cool. Still close to downtown but with plenty of FREE parking and the place is huge. It has an industrial barn feel to it with high ceilings in the main room, a huge bar area and an outside gated porch for us smokers. Their sound system is modern and up to date and so is their house lighting rig. Even Schmier commented that this was the best venue he has played in Denver. This was my first time patronizing this venue and I hope the owner will book more metal shows, however hopefully not with 3 local openers on a bill that already has 4 national touring bands on it!

But on the other hand the local support was actually pretty good with Harvest The Murdered, The Combustion Mechanism (featuring Greg from Allegaeon), and reformed (I hope!) Legion of Death (with Lenzig from Cephalic Carnage on vocals).

After all that it was time for Pathology to hit the stage. Maybe not my first choice of a support band for a thrash outfit, but it worked out pretty well. I have seen Pathology plenty of times and while their music is not my cup of tea, the crowd really got into their set. Don't even ask me what all they played, but I swear it looked like their vocalist was eating his microphone while grunting and growling and sputtering unidentifiable noises out of his mouth. To each their own; the guys are really nice but I just can't get into their sound.





Stupidly thinking Warbringer, one of the hottest thrash bands in America right now, would be direct support for Destruction, I was rather surprised to see them set up right after Pathology. No big deal since I have seen Warbringer like a thousand times already. Well, maybe not that many and definitely not with their new guitarist Andrew Bennett. Kid kicks ass on his instrument and even though I miss Adam Carroll, the new guy is great.

Starting with "Living Weapon" off their 2011 release Worlds Torn Asunder, John Kevill took control of the crowd and never looked back. Unfortunately their set time was limited to 35 minutes so the only other new song they played was "Wake Up?Destroy". Since I am particular fond of their 2008 album War Without End, in part because it's just raw and somewhat reminds me of Assassin, I appreciated the fact that Warbringer played "Total War" and "Combat Shock".





Next up was Vital Remains, which I just saw a while back when they supported Hate Eternal. No new things here, same old stuff played, which is good for nostalgic reasons I guess, but HELLLLO! Four songs from two albums and a couple intros, really? At least last time their vocalist was sporting a rather cool looking foot-long spiked armband. The crowd apparently didn't mind and the mosh pit got a bit violent during their set, other than that nothing to report. But hey, it's always nice to see Tony Lazaro who is the only dude left from the 80's and major kudos to him for wearing a Pestilence shirt!





Smoke break, grabbed a beer and then I heard the soothing sounds of a chain-saw coming from the back; "The Butcher Strikes Back" and the mighty Destruction took the stage! It was a "Total Desaster" last time they played in Denver, with them arriving late and performing in a shitty venue. But this time Schmier apparently had his "Satan's Vengeance" and totally blew the audience's mind from the word go. As with the other bands on the bill, I have seen Destruction live so many times its unreal and they never disappoint.

Just like you know it's Black Label Society when you hear Zakk Wylde do his squeal thingy, you know it's Destruction when you hear Mike Sifringer plug away on his guitar. I swear, he looks like a "Mad Butcher" shredding on stage with his hair constantly in his face.

This was the fifth time I have seen Destruction since their 2011 release of Days of Reckoning and I am so glad they played "Armageddonizer". The song is catchy as hell and the riffs and solos are beyond awesome; one can't stop to head-bang. It was great to see that older Destruction songs did not receive an "Eternal Ban" from the set list and Schmier and Co. actually played a healthy portion of older material that night. Kudos, 'cause otherwise it would have been a "Life Without Sense" for any hard core Destruction fan.





Vaaver behind his drum kit had the time of his life and apparently his motto for the day was "Hate Is My Fuel" since he was on fire that night. Not that I didn't like the band's prior drummers but I really believe Vaaver is a great fit and a worthy replacement for Marc Reign (or Tommy for that matter). But I do believe that there are "Days of Confusion" who is taller, Schmier or him.

"Thrash 'Till Death" almost made the room boil over. Fast and furious guitars and Schmier looked like "The Antichrist", screaming into the microphone while hammering away on his bass.

The crowd, like JC when he was "Nailed To The Cross", probably was in disbelief that they just witnessed one of the better performances that Destruction delivered in Denver for a while. Shit, it almost brought "Tears of Blood" to my eyes.

Mike was spot on with his delivery of great sounding riffs and solos, Vaaver was just a beast behind the drums and Schmier sounded just flat out amazing that night. It was a "Bestial Invasion" for sure.





But for this that one of the Big 3 of Teutonic Thrash was ripping our ear drums apart and gave 110% on stage, I would have expected more people to show up. Well, for those who missed this show you might as well "Curse The Gods" since Destruction will not come back to our shores anytime soon.

But seriously, this was one of the best a) set-lists and b) live shows I have seen by the band while performing in North America. There are still a couple dates left on this tour and if you like old school thrash, do yourself a favor and GO.

THRASH 'TILL DEATH

Check out the picture gallery from the show right HERE