Destroy Destroy Destroy - Devour the Power
Metal Blade Records 6th September 2006
by Tom Strutton
Destroy Destroy Destroy formed in Tennessee in late February 2003 and Devour the Power is the six-piece's first full length album, building upon previous shorter releases including 2003's Kill or be Killed. These non-too-detestable young champions of all things traditional in metal play a mixture of .... I'm not quite sure what. The band's myspace profile categorizes them as thrash/glam/metal, and there are certainly elements of each of these subgenres, but it might also be worth adding battle/viking metal. Certain vocal parts even betray a debt to black metal, and the drums draw from most metal styles including grindcore. This is, then, a real melting pot of metal styles. But does it innovate or simple emulate?
Ok, at first I hated this. I believe that if power/battle/viking metal is to be done at all it needs to be done REALLY well, and this reeked of average-ness. Destroy Destroy Destroy are tight as hell and there are some great riffs on display, but creativity seems to be a concept these boys are unfamiliar with. And this becomes more apparent as Devour the Power progresses, rolling out one cliché after another and leaving the musically minded listener drowning in despair. Before listening to this album one should perhaps avoid looking at the inlay if one wishes to avoid forming preconceptions of the band, since the image of six half naked men (one in nothing but underpants) in battle metal poses is surprisingly hard to shake from the mind, not to mention the fact that the band comes across as an ironic joke even before the music begins. This picture is actually quite hilarious in a good way...it's always comforting to be reminded that there are bands out there that don't take themselves, or the scene, too seriously.
The lyrics continue the over-the-top ironic tone set by the inlay band photograph; with titles such as 'Ripped apart by the juggernaut of fornication, Devour the Power is standard battle metal fare with an emphasis on violence and brutality delivered in a mock-serious tone. At any rate nothing is left to the imagination; with such evocative phrases as 'we will fist fuck your skull' from the track 'Mutilated Cranial Orifice' many will be left thinking 'what is their not to like about this band or this album?' It is with this question in mind that I tackled successive spins of Devour the Power, hoping to find something to appreciate among the eleven satisfyingly punishing yet worryingly derivative compositions. After a little thought (and having visited the band's official website which contains an amusing biography that reveals a cute and harmless indulgence in all things fantastical and metal-like) I am able to conclude that Destroy Destroy Destroy are mostly about fun and escapism, two things which Devour the Power provides in large measures. To give this album a rating based on how much fun the band is having would be to place it at the top end of a ratings spectrum. However, this reviewer is going to judge this music (funnily enough) on its musicality, which pales in comparison to many of todays leading metal acts. If not for the un-humorous tone of the music I would recommend this, but only as a 'half-developed-yet-still-quite-funny' comedy metal band.
6/10
Metal Blade Records 6th September 2006
by Tom Strutton
Destroy Destroy Destroy formed in Tennessee in late February 2003 and Devour the Power is the six-piece's first full length album, building upon previous shorter releases including 2003's Kill or be Killed. These non-too-detestable young champions of all things traditional in metal play a mixture of .... I'm not quite sure what. The band's myspace profile categorizes them as thrash/glam/metal, and there are certainly elements of each of these subgenres, but it might also be worth adding battle/viking metal. Certain vocal parts even betray a debt to black metal, and the drums draw from most metal styles including grindcore. This is, then, a real melting pot of metal styles. But does it innovate or simple emulate?
Ok, at first I hated this. I believe that if power/battle/viking metal is to be done at all it needs to be done REALLY well, and this reeked of average-ness. Destroy Destroy Destroy are tight as hell and there are some great riffs on display, but creativity seems to be a concept these boys are unfamiliar with. And this becomes more apparent as Devour the Power progresses, rolling out one cliché after another and leaving the musically minded listener drowning in despair. Before listening to this album one should perhaps avoid looking at the inlay if one wishes to avoid forming preconceptions of the band, since the image of six half naked men (one in nothing but underpants) in battle metal poses is surprisingly hard to shake from the mind, not to mention the fact that the band comes across as an ironic joke even before the music begins. This picture is actually quite hilarious in a good way...it's always comforting to be reminded that there are bands out there that don't take themselves, or the scene, too seriously.
The lyrics continue the over-the-top ironic tone set by the inlay band photograph; with titles such as 'Ripped apart by the juggernaut of fornication, Devour the Power is standard battle metal fare with an emphasis on violence and brutality delivered in a mock-serious tone. At any rate nothing is left to the imagination; with such evocative phrases as 'we will fist fuck your skull' from the track 'Mutilated Cranial Orifice' many will be left thinking 'what is their not to like about this band or this album?' It is with this question in mind that I tackled successive spins of Devour the Power, hoping to find something to appreciate among the eleven satisfyingly punishing yet worryingly derivative compositions. After a little thought (and having visited the band's official website which contains an amusing biography that reveals a cute and harmless indulgence in all things fantastical and metal-like) I am able to conclude that Destroy Destroy Destroy are mostly about fun and escapism, two things which Devour the Power provides in large measures. To give this album a rating based on how much fun the band is having would be to place it at the top end of a ratings spectrum. However, this reviewer is going to judge this music (funnily enough) on its musicality, which pales in comparison to many of todays leading metal acts. If not for the un-humorous tone of the music I would recommend this, but only as a 'half-developed-yet-still-quite-funny' comedy metal band.
6/10
