Australia’s Destruktor has apparently been around since 1997, but to date the trio has managed only a handful of EPs and splits and one full-length album, which was released almost six years ago. I can’t say that during the past eighteen years I’ve paid the band any friggin’ attention whatsoever, but the group’s latest Opprobrium made me sit up and take notice.
Hailing from Australia, you can probably guess that Destruktor’s style would be described as black-something. The “something” part runs the gamut from thrash to death to grind, which sounds more diverse than it actually is. What it all adds up to is some ass-whooping metal.
Opening track “Priestiality” starts off slow and ominous, the type of slow and ominous that foreshadows an eruption of violence you can see coming from a mile away. After about a minute and a half, Destruktor assumes its true form, which is one of straightforward, high-speed, blackened blasting. This would normally bore the shit out of me, but Destruktor, for reasons detailed below, buck the odds.
Drummer Jahred plays no small part in Opprobrium’s success. Jahred spends most of the record pounding the ever-loving shit out of his kit. To say that his performance is varied, nuanced or in any way subtle would be a gross misrepresentation, yet Jahred does have a little something special going on: a bit of swing, and a feel for the groove that helps the album’s rather intense tracks breathe a little and avoid the mechanical monotony that typically plagues this type of music. A fairly natural sounding kit also helps contribute a live feel to the recording. The bass drums are a little anemic, but you can’t have everything.
Destruktor is primarily a riff band; there is little in the way of extraneous melody, and the vocals, while suitably menacing, don’t ever deliver anything resembling a hook. The band lives and dies on riffs and the execution thereof. As riffs go, Destruktor’s are generally above average, with the occasional whiff of something greater. The execution is exemplary: Destruktor is tight and can shift on a dime, but it also exhibits a punk rock rawness, reminiscent of Ravencult, which puts some much needed shake in the grind.
Opprobrium‘s two standout tracks are “Besieged” and the eight-plus minute album closer “Forever the Blood Shall Flow.” “Besieged” is the perfect realization of the band’s typical style. It is a sub-four-minute burner, with a catchier, more nimble than average main riff, a doomy breakdown and a short but sweet solo. It is not a complicated formula, but it is implemented perfectly: get in, kick ass, get out. “Forever the Blood Shall Flow” is a different affair altogether, a slow building epic that sees the band pulling out all sorts of tricks that were only hinted at on Opprobrium’s previous six tracks: well developed melody, multiple tempo shifts, clean guitar, and the whole thing is topped off with some of the best riffing of the record. The track brings Opprobrium to a triumphant but bittersweet conclusion. I say bittersweet because it shows that Destruktor is capable of so much more than what it showed on the rest of the record.
A little more variety could have elevated Opprobrium from a damn good album to something approaching greatness, but it isn’t fair to knock the band for what could have been when what it has done, it has done exceptionally well. Opprobrium is a potent batch of vicious, Jesus-hating, blackened-something-or-other metal, and letting this fucker rip loud and proud is a fine way to spend thirty-three minutes.
