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On disc: Deströyer 666



To The Devil His Due - Mike Thompson - 8 stars


www.myspace.com/destroyer666band







To The Devil His Due

To The Devil His Due
(Hell's Headbangers – 2011)


The last Deströyer 666 full-length, 2009's Defiance, split long-time fans into two camps. One half loved it, the other half felt the band had lost their way since their landmark blackened thrash masterpiece Cold Steel... For An Iron Age. For myself, I was firmly in the first camp. Perhaps in response to the criticism of the modern production and more polished sound (completely uncharacteristic of the band pre-Defiance) Aussie exile KK Warlust and his crew released a far less polished vinyl-only EP last year, named See You In Hell. For those who don't collect vinyl Hell's Headbangers have this time thrown together a collection of songs from various out of print and hard to find 7" vinyls, including See You In Hell, and released them for the first time on CD.

The EP starts out with 1998's Satanic Speed Metal, which included the title track and The Sirens Call. Satanic Speed Metal is a belter with the cheesily blasphemous lyrics snarled out by Warlust whilst the crowd sings along and chants. The production isn't the best but for such an underground band at the time its really not bad! This first section has a sound more akin to Venom than any other band.

Next up is 2000's King Of Kings / Lord Of The Wild. This sounds more like the D666 I know and love with some great atmospheric blackened death / thrash. The old school influences still resonate loud and clear with some sections very reminiscent of Motörhead whilst other parts showcase the band's extreme metal heritage.

Taste the Poison and Levens Bloed are from the ...Of Wolves, Women And War EP. Deströyer 666 fans will know this as the one with a Werewolf doing a chick doggy style. Dodgy cover art aside the two songs are both fine slabs of classic D666 with solid riffs, great vocals and solos that will have you mopping your melted face off the floor. The first song in particular has lyrics that will stick in your mind for a while whilst the latter reminded me a great deal of mid-era Immortal.

Finally we come to the See You In Hell songs. The production is notably better than the previous songs but far below the polish of Defiance. Both the songs are good D666 tunes that will have you banging your head whilst the solos melt your face.

Overall, this is a quality collection that gives D666 fans the chance to hear rare songs from the Aussie warmachine. There are a couple of EPs missing (1995's debut Violence Is The Prince Of This World and 2003's Terror Abraxas) but despite that you can't really complain. Production variations aside this is like having another Deströyer 666 full-length. You won't be disappointed with it.


8 stars

Mike Thompson
 

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