Destructor is an American power/thrash band from Cleveland, Ohio.
A… Read Full Bio ↴Destructor is an American power/thrash band from Cleveland, Ohio.
Auburn president Bill Peters' first encounter with Destructor was seeing the band perform their very first 'live' show in 1984 at The Pop Shop, a club managed by Chris Andrews and located beneath the historic Cleveland Agora. Already working with bands such as Breaker and Shok Paris at the time, Peters fell in love with the band's untamed energy, great songwriting, wild spirit and charismatic stage presence. The Cleveland metal scene was dominated at the time with 'technically' great sounding bands. Many questioned why Peters would choose to work with a band such as Destructor and how he could possibly record and capture the band's energy in the studio. After all, Destructor were considered to be one of the area's most 'anti-technical' of bands at the time. Despite the rough edges and regardless of the criticisms, Peters had a vision that Destructor could develop into something special and saw something in them most of his industry peers did not. He took a chance and moved forward, signing Destructor to his Auburn label in 1984. The band entered Suma Recording Studios to begin recording their debut album with engineer Paul Hamann at the helm. Destructor's "Maximum Destruction" album, released the following year in 1985 on Auburn Records, is considered by many to be an underground metal classic and quickly silenced the critics. It became Auburn's biggest seller and catapulted the band to international success in the metal underground. The album was licensed to Roadrunner Records in Europe several months after the initial release and later reissued by Listenable Records in 1999. Destructor's crushing 'live' performances in the area, both headlining and opening for national acts such as Anthrax, Slayer and Megadeth, became legendary. The band received rave reviews and full features in prestigious metal publications like Metal Forces, Kerrang!, Hit Parader and Metal Hammer. In 1987, Destructor entered Beachwood Studios with engineer Jim DeMain to begin recording their second album "Decibel Casualties". The album, along with Jag Panzer's "Chain Of Command", was going to help launch a joint venture between Auburn and major label Island Records. Unfortunately, both projects never saw the light of day. Several months into the Destructor recording sessions, bass player Dave Iannicca was innocently murdered on January 1, 1988. The incident devastated both the band and Auburn president Bill Peters, who had been a good friend of Dave's over the years. Coping with losing a 'family' member was very difficult for everyone to overcome. Destructor needed time to recover from the tragedy and were in no condition to begin playing music again. Peters struggled with his emotions and his dealings with Island Records, who took more of a business stance on the whole situation. Peters eventually decided to walk away from the entire 3-year label deal. It was a tough decision but the right one he felt to make at the time.
Over the next several years, Destructor struggled to keep things going. They went through several bass players trying to move forward but the chemistry continued to be missing. During these years of uncertainty, the band did manage to go into the studio and finish one song from the "Decibel Casualties" sessions, "Storm Of Steel", for Auburn's 1990 "Heavy Artillery" compilation. The compilation was dedicated to Dave Iannicca. Unfortunately, the revolving door of bass players continued to take its toll, forcing the band into hiatus in the early 90's. Destructor resurfaced in 1999 when Listenable Records reissued the "Maximum Destruction" album. Inspired by the rejuvenated interest from the reissue, Destructor entered the studio in 2000 to begin recording new material. After hearing the final mixes, Listenable expressed no interest in releasing the album and decided to drop the band from the label. Bass player frustrations continued to haunt the band and the album was never released. A song from those sessions, "The Triangle", appeared on the Heavy, oder was!? "Metal Crusade-Vol. IV" compilation.
Finally in 2002, Destructor connected with Boulder bass player Jamie Walters. Although several years younger than the band members, Jamie had been a long time Destructor fan and had seen the band on a number of occasions over the years. Both parties hit it off immediately and Destructor were back on track. Jamie was the missing piece to the puzzle the band had searched for so long and hard. Then in January of 2003, Destructor and Auburn officially reunited. The two parties had been talking for nearly a year and had been unofficially working together since the summer of 2002. Peters challenged the band to write new material and the band delivered with an amazing batch of originals that followed in the same tradition as the "Maximum Destruction" album.
Destructor entered 609 Recording with engineer Don Depew (Breaker) in the Spring of 2003 to record "Sonic Bullet". The EP, released in the Summer, includes 5 new recordings ("Sonic Bullet", "Heavy Artillery", "Silent Enemy", "Blackest Night", "Master Of The Universe"), two tracks from the previously unreleased 2000 sessions ("G-Force", "The Triangle") and two 'live' tracks recorded in 2002 at the Classic Metal Festival ("Pounding Evil") and at the band's opening set for Slayer in Cleveland ("Iron Curtain"). The Summer of 2003 has seen a lot of activity from Destructor on the concert front. They performed at two major festivals, the BW&BK "6-Pack Weekend" in Cleveland (headlined by Candlemass and Trouble) and the Bang Your Head in Balingen, Germany (headlined by Twisted Sister and Dio), and opened the Iron Maiden/Dio/Motörhead Cleveland tour date. The band are currently finishing up writing new material and plan to enter the studio next year to begin recording a new full-length.
Pat Rabid - guitar
Jamie Boulder - bass
Dave Overkill - guitar/vocals
Matt Flammable - drums
A… Read Full Bio ↴Destructor is an American power/thrash band from Cleveland, Ohio.
Auburn president Bill Peters' first encounter with Destructor was seeing the band perform their very first 'live' show in 1984 at The Pop Shop, a club managed by Chris Andrews and located beneath the historic Cleveland Agora. Already working with bands such as Breaker and Shok Paris at the time, Peters fell in love with the band's untamed energy, great songwriting, wild spirit and charismatic stage presence. The Cleveland metal scene was dominated at the time with 'technically' great sounding bands. Many questioned why Peters would choose to work with a band such as Destructor and how he could possibly record and capture the band's energy in the studio. After all, Destructor were considered to be one of the area's most 'anti-technical' of bands at the time. Despite the rough edges and regardless of the criticisms, Peters had a vision that Destructor could develop into something special and saw something in them most of his industry peers did not. He took a chance and moved forward, signing Destructor to his Auburn label in 1984. The band entered Suma Recording Studios to begin recording their debut album with engineer Paul Hamann at the helm. Destructor's "Maximum Destruction" album, released the following year in 1985 on Auburn Records, is considered by many to be an underground metal classic and quickly silenced the critics. It became Auburn's biggest seller and catapulted the band to international success in the metal underground. The album was licensed to Roadrunner Records in Europe several months after the initial release and later reissued by Listenable Records in 1999. Destructor's crushing 'live' performances in the area, both headlining and opening for national acts such as Anthrax, Slayer and Megadeth, became legendary. The band received rave reviews and full features in prestigious metal publications like Metal Forces, Kerrang!, Hit Parader and Metal Hammer. In 1987, Destructor entered Beachwood Studios with engineer Jim DeMain to begin recording their second album "Decibel Casualties". The album, along with Jag Panzer's "Chain Of Command", was going to help launch a joint venture between Auburn and major label Island Records. Unfortunately, both projects never saw the light of day. Several months into the Destructor recording sessions, bass player Dave Iannicca was innocently murdered on January 1, 1988. The incident devastated both the band and Auburn president Bill Peters, who had been a good friend of Dave's over the years. Coping with losing a 'family' member was very difficult for everyone to overcome. Destructor needed time to recover from the tragedy and were in no condition to begin playing music again. Peters struggled with his emotions and his dealings with Island Records, who took more of a business stance on the whole situation. Peters eventually decided to walk away from the entire 3-year label deal. It was a tough decision but the right one he felt to make at the time.
Over the next several years, Destructor struggled to keep things going. They went through several bass players trying to move forward but the chemistry continued to be missing. During these years of uncertainty, the band did manage to go into the studio and finish one song from the "Decibel Casualties" sessions, "Storm Of Steel", for Auburn's 1990 "Heavy Artillery" compilation. The compilation was dedicated to Dave Iannicca. Unfortunately, the revolving door of bass players continued to take its toll, forcing the band into hiatus in the early 90's. Destructor resurfaced in 1999 when Listenable Records reissued the "Maximum Destruction" album. Inspired by the rejuvenated interest from the reissue, Destructor entered the studio in 2000 to begin recording new material. After hearing the final mixes, Listenable expressed no interest in releasing the album and decided to drop the band from the label. Bass player frustrations continued to haunt the band and the album was never released. A song from those sessions, "The Triangle", appeared on the Heavy, oder was!? "Metal Crusade-Vol. IV" compilation.
Finally in 2002, Destructor connected with Boulder bass player Jamie Walters. Although several years younger than the band members, Jamie had been a long time Destructor fan and had seen the band on a number of occasions over the years. Both parties hit it off immediately and Destructor were back on track. Jamie was the missing piece to the puzzle the band had searched for so long and hard. Then in January of 2003, Destructor and Auburn officially reunited. The two parties had been talking for nearly a year and had been unofficially working together since the summer of 2002. Peters challenged the band to write new material and the band delivered with an amazing batch of originals that followed in the same tradition as the "Maximum Destruction" album.
Destructor entered 609 Recording with engineer Don Depew (Breaker) in the Spring of 2003 to record "Sonic Bullet". The EP, released in the Summer, includes 5 new recordings ("Sonic Bullet", "Heavy Artillery", "Silent Enemy", "Blackest Night", "Master Of The Universe"), two tracks from the previously unreleased 2000 sessions ("G-Force", "The Triangle") and two 'live' tracks recorded in 2002 at the Classic Metal Festival ("Pounding Evil") and at the band's opening set for Slayer in Cleveland ("Iron Curtain"). The Summer of 2003 has seen a lot of activity from Destructor on the concert front. They performed at two major festivals, the BW&BK "6-Pack Weekend" in Cleveland (headlined by Candlemass and Trouble) and the Bang Your Head in Balingen, Germany (headlined by Twisted Sister and Dio), and opened the Iron Maiden/Dio/Motörhead Cleveland tour date. The band are currently finishing up writing new material and plan to enter the studio next year to begin recording a new full-length.
Pat Rabid - guitar
Jamie Boulder - bass
Dave Overkill - guitar/vocals
Matt Flammable - drums
Iron Curtain
Destructor Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Held inside with hammer and sickle
Assaulted with tormentive rule
Prisoners forced to live in pain
Blinded from the life
They've never seen
The government in control
The massive iron has fallen
Isolated from all manking
Sickled shadow burned
In their minds
The
Assaulted with tormentive rule
Prisoners forced to live in pain
Blinded from the life
They've never seen
The government in control
The massive iron has fallen
Sickled shadow burned
In their minds
The
lyrics of Destructor's Iron Curtain shed light on the oppressive Soviet regime that ruled over the Eastern bloc. The use of the hammer and sickle symbolizes the power that the government used to hold on to its people. The prisoners were subjected to torment, and their pain was their only way of life. The Iron Curtain, a term coined by Winston Churchill, refers to the boundary that separated Western Europe from the Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe. The people living in the Eastern bloc were isolated from the rest of the world and were forced to live under strict government control.
The lyrics speak about the blindness that the prisoners felt due to their lack of exposure to the outside world. They were not allowed to experience life beyond the iron curtain. The sickled shadow burned in their minds, implying that the people were traumatized by their experiences of living under a regime that didn't value freedom or individualism. The song highlights the fact that the people living under Soviet rule had very little hope or joy in their lives.
Line by Line Meaning
Held inside with hammer and sickle
The captives are trapped under communist rule
Assaulted with tormentive rule
The government enforces cruel and oppressive laws
Prisoners forced to live in pain
Those trapped are subjected to constant suffering
Blinded from the life
They are deprived of any hope or joy in life - complete despair
The government in control
The state has a stranglehold on power
The massive iron has fallen
The once-imposing Iron Curtain has crumbled
Isolated from all manking
Those trapped are cut off from the rest of the world
Sickled shadow burned
The constant reminder of suffering haunts their every thought
Contributed by Colton C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
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Savannah S
i have to say my favorite song by Destructor is probably either Iron Curtain or Sonic Bullett hahah i luv my daddy's songs!!! \m/
lmr641
hell yeah, great song. i used to listen to this stuff back in the heydays of the death/thrash metal scene, and i still do. Destructor was one of those great american thrash bands. i'll never forget that era. thanks.
El Grande
I was penpals and used to trade tapes with the band back in 1985/86. Cool guys. Wish I still had all the rehearsal tapes.
eveningtsar
Destructor kick some serious ass. I met these guys not too long ago after a show in Cleveland. Great bunch of dudes.
kid
Thanks for posting, I`ve been trying to get this album (CD) for so long time but haven`t had any succes, can somebody advice me where to get it.
Lat3xCult
Hails to your father,girl! You're so lucky! ;) \m/
Sharkie Holland
Solo section from 2:40 is great !Reminds me of the old Iron Maiden and the band Griffin.
zerocool0000000000
That guitar solo o_0 !!!
Savannah S
haha thanks man! my nickname is Vannah and it kinda reminded me of Vannah White xDD laaame i know! Metal shows in my opinon are epik! but I can't really go to any of them. To be honest i only went with meh Dad once or twice to one of his and they rocked!! \m/
rodoxxs
old school rules