Destruction - Infernal Overkill (Steamhammer/SPV, 1985)

On this first full length album Destruction had finally arrived as a Thrash Metal band destined to be reckoned within years to come. There is definitely a lot of improvement from this album in comparison to the "Sentence of Death" EP from the year before. Destruction seemed to have a bit more of a clue as to what was going on in terms of playing together better and working harder to make the songs sound more polished and more well rehearsed this time around.

Destruction had a lot of killer timing on this first full length, in addition to a lot of very progressive sharp riff playing throughout the album. Mike's guitar playing kept true to a Thrash Metal grit, but he mixed in a lot of quick played sharp riff playing with an incredible progressive feel that made the brutal essence of the album all come together. Tommy's drum playing had really come along at this point. He was doing all kinds of stuff on the drums by playing brutal styled Thrash Metal, mixing that with progressive timing on some songs. From one song to the next you didn't know what he would do next behind the kit, and if he would outdo himself from the last track. Schmier's strong bass progressive playing was intense as hell; he actually managed to have the bass play the role as kind of a rhythm guitar feel. It was killer sounding mixed with the lead guitar riffs and combining that with his patented screams that have defined Destruction over the years. With his raspy vocals of vengeance this made the album quite killer. "Infernal Overkill" has survived the test of time and is still one of my all time favorite Thrash Metal albums of all time. You have not heard Thrash Metal until you've heard this album and how it breaks it down almost to the bare essentials. (Sadistikal)

Overall Rating: 10

Line-Up
Schmier - Bass and Vocals
Mike - Guitars
Tommy - Drums