DESTRUCTION’s last UK tour at the end of 2007 was a disorganised rabble as a dodgy promoter failed to fulfil his promises. However, with a successful performance at Bloodstock under their belt, the band were courageously back in the UK with another headline tour only a year later. Of the two support bands tonight, the old school thrash metal of SCARED TO DEATH went down a hell of a lot better than the poor death metal of DEBAUCHERY - possibly the worst signed death metal band I’ve ever seen.

Only around 70 turned up for tonight’s show, and during the set, DESTRUCTION frontman Schmier expressed that this would probably be the last time the band play a headline show in the UK, adding that “no promoters are likely to bring the band over again”. Considering how good DESTRUCTION are, this of course a damn shame, but the crowd was hardly a surprise given it was a went Sunday night a week and a bit before Christmas. Also, the last two times DESTRUCTION have been down to play Dudley JBs, they cancelled on both occasions.

Despite the sparse crowd, DESTRUCTION put on a blistering show, tearing through monstrous thrash metal classics like ‘Bestial Invasion’ and ‘Curse the Gods’. The new album title track ‘Devolution’ also slotted into the set nicely, with the other new song ‘Urge (The Green of Gain)’ also sounding good. Whenever anyone thinks of old school thrash metal, they think of the big 4, METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER and ANTHRAX - but DESTRUCTION have more than a few songs that are comfortably as good as any of those band’s thrash classics. ‘Nailed To The Cross’, ‘Mad Butcher’ and ‘The Butcher Strikes Back’ are all prime examples, and live, these songs simply kill.

Unless Bloodstock invites DESTRUCTION back, it’s unlikely that thrash fans will get another chance to this legendary band on UK shores. Let’s hope that’s not the case, because like their fellow countrymen KREATOR, DESTRUCTION are a live force to be reckoned with. The closing song of tonight’s set, ‘Total Desaster’, may well sum up the financial implications of such a poor turn out, but ‘Thrash ‘Till Death’ still remains DESTRUCTION’s philosophy, and that philosophy is shared by the 70 die-hards in Dudley tonight. If only there was more people out there like them…

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Photography by Alexander Shaw (click here)