DESTRUCTION — Sentence of Death (review)

DESTRUCTION — Sentence of Death album cover EP · 1984 · Thrash Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
2.5/5 ·
UMUR
"Sentence of Death" is an EP release by German thrash metal act Destruction. The EP was released through Steamhammer Records in November 1984. Destruction were formed as Knight of Demon in 1982, but soon changed their name to the current monicker. They released the "Bestial Invasion of Hell" demo in early 1984, but "Sentence of Death" is their first official label release.

While Destruction would go on to earn great success in the 80s as one of the three teutonic thrash metal leaders from Germany along with Sodom and Kreator, the quality of the material and just about everything about this release don´t exactly reveal why that is. The 6 tracks on the 19:33 minutes long EP are all raw, noisy and savage heavy metal with occasional thrashy leanings. Not completely unlike the most raw output by Venom. Three tracks from the "Bestial Invasion of Hell" demo have been re-recorded and included here in "Mad Butcher", "Total Desaster", and "Satan's Vengeance".

The playing is untight and sloppy, probably as a consequence of the band members young age and limited playing skills, and the time they had to record the EP. The sound production is noisy, raw and amaturish. Pretty much a mess to listen to. It´s a bit hard to judge "Sentence of Death" in retrospective, because the world of metal looked very different back when this EP was released, and it was probably one of the most raw pieces of metal released at the time. It´s also often hailed as a great influence on the black metal genre and I can understand why that is. As an individual entity it´s a bit hard on the ears though and influential or not a 2.5 star (50%) rating is warranted.
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