30 years into their career, Schmier and company aren’t breaking any new ground with Spiritual Genocide, but it shows they haven’t taken their foot off the gas. It barrels ahead at breakneck speed, with riffs flying around like bullets. In addition to longtime guitarist Mike Sifringer, there are some guest solos from Evile’s Ol Drake, who also played on 2011‘s Day Of Reckoning.
One of album highlights is “Legacy Of The Past,” featuring guest vocalists Tom Angelripper from Sodom and Gerre from Tankard alongside Schmier’s instantly recognizable style. It adds a little variety to the proceedings, and all three give excellent performances. The lyrics of the song pay homage to numerous classic metal songs and albums ranging from British Steel to Hell Awaits.
There’s not a lot of subtlety here, just galloping thrash that will get your head banging. “To Dust You Will Decay” starts off with a more moderate pace before cranking up, but does have some nice ebbs and flows. That’s more of an exception on this album, which doesn’t have a huge amount of diversity.
In the big scheme of things, Spiritual Genocide is not an essential Destruction album, but it is an enjoyable one that fans of the band will appreciate.
(released February 5, 2013 on Nuclear Blast Records)
