Destroy Destroy Destroy
Devour The Power
7.5
The minute the first real track on this album kicked in, I thought to myself, “Hmmm…this sounds like a strange brew of Bodom, Pantera, and Maiden.” Lo and behold, a trip to Destroy Destroy Destroy’s MySpace page reveals the group’s description of its sound, and those three, among others, make the cut. Your like or dislike of those bands, especially Children of Bodom, will decide whether or not you like this band, because while the guitar work is impressive and some songs are particularly strong, there’s only a minimal amount of originality.
Who cares? Do we need originality? Pantera ripped Exhorder. Death Angel ripped Metallica and Exodus. CoC rips Sabbath. Does it matter that this sextet from Tennessee rips Bodom? To those that continue to hail the excellence that was Hate Crew Deathroll, the answer is an emphatic no. Courtesy of Jeremiah Scott and Way Barrier, we are treated to aggressive riffs that sound eerily like CoB’s own Alexi Laiho at times. The contribution of Courtney Edwards gives the album a professional polish that, while not immediately comparable to Warman in style because of the less “happy” tone, certainly has a feeling all its own. She doesn’t overuse her keys, as Warman is prone to do, either. There’s no cheesy neo-classical touch here.
The same way that Bodom will pause for a breakdown and let Laiho emit his signature screech, Destroy Destroy Destroy does the same for vocalist Bryan Kemp, whose tone, while a little less sharp, will easily draw comparisons to Laiho. The closing half-minute of “Mutilated Cranial Orifice” is a prime example. It’s anti-climactic and unoriginal. The band sounds best when it’s cruising at a frantic pace, developing a galloping riff and straining it through an entire track, such as on “Seduced by the Locrian Temptress.”
The extreme power metal tag that is sometimes affixed to CoB and almost always used for Dragonforce can be applied to certain tracks on Devour The Power; “Hellfire,” “Ripped Apart by the Juggernaut of Fornication,” whose opening sounds especially like Dragonforce, and “Gods of War and Open Sores.” Strangely enough, considering they are far from making a personal stamp of any kind, these are the album’s stronger tracks. “Ripped Apart” will leave your head spinning in the same delicious way that the best Dragonforce songs dizzy your brain, and the two others are equally gripping.
While staunch traditionalists should avoid this with the repelling fervor of a germaphobe at Ozzfest, CoB fans shall rejoice as they discover a more pleasant alternative to Are You Dead Yet?. This is only the group's debut. I would say that I hope they break free from the CoB trap with their follow-up, but, as long as CoB is half-assing it now, I don't mind if these guys carry the torch.
