The first time I heard 'Mad Butcher', I was pretty blown away and that set one track sold me on their entire catalog. Back in 1989, I bought this live record (on cassette, which has been lost to the ravages of time) and couldn't listen to it enough.
In the late 1980's, thrash and metal records had a tendency to be very, very treble heavy and bass seemed relegated to the way background. Most Destruction records suffered from this pretty badly, though the highlight of the band has always been the technical guitar playing anyway. This live record has a fantastic mix and the bass comes out, giving this release a punch lacking in a lot of their studio LP's.
There are a ton of highlights to this record - "Curse The Gods" and "Thrash Attack" being my favorties, but "Mad Butcher" is awesome here with a long into and crowd going nuts - you can almost feel the air cycling out of the pit way back in '89.
Considered one of the best technical metal bands back in the day along side Kreator, Destruction is two parts thrash to one part technical virtuosity and the later really makes the thrash part hit hard. I wouldn't consider them a technical band, more a thrash band with some really good guitar work. The vocals can be a hit or miss for some with the high-pitched squeals on "Curse..." and others. But really, if you listen to "Mad Butcher" and don't dig the band totally, the vocals won't change your mind one way or other other.
There are so many great early thrash bands, but Destruction still seems a cut above the rest, a rare treat for fans of technical metal and thrash.
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