Certain classic Metal records from the 1980s are in my opinion still underrated and can never get enough acclaim. The first DESTRUCTOR album “Maximum Destruction” is one of these albums. No matter what time in my life I put it on the record player, this record never disappointed me in any way. “Maximum Destruction” smashed skulls when it came out in 1985, it made me pound my fist in the air in 1998 and in 2022, it still bangs my head. The reason is simple: this album is a timeless lesson in power and energy. Verging on the edge of Thrash Metal, DESTRUCTOR created an ultimate masterpiece of Power Metal. The album starts off with the iconic intro ‘Prelude In Sledge-Minor Opus 7 1st Movement’, which is based on the beat of a real sledgehammer. After a long scream of Dave “Overkill” Just, one of the heaviest Metal riffs runs you down like a steamroller, highlighted by a monstrous drum groove. This part alone is worth getting the whole album! But the title track of “Maximum Destruction” has more to offer, as the breaks in the middle part are finest Metal as well. With the band anthem ‘Destructor’ and ‘Take Command’, the Cleveland quartet touches Thrash Metal before the quite short ‘Instrumetal’ (sic!), one of the finest instrumental songs in Metal, finishes the first side of the album. The flipside opens with ‘Pounding Evil’, that is self-describing. ‘Overdose’ is again Power Metal on the edge of Thrash and ‘Iron Curtain’ leaves all band members the space to show their skills. The next short instrumental tune ‘Hot Wet Leather’ passed over into the kinky up-speed smasher ‘Bondage’. And thus ends an outstanding album that depicts the spirit of the Metal scene of the 1980s damn well. Of course the original album on Auburn Records (Roadrunner was responsible for the European version) is hard to get nowadays, but High Roller Records produces relief, as they put out a kind of ultimate version of the album with loads of extras, of course. Asides from the original version of the album, we also find the remix that was made in July 1998 for the first CD release of the album, that also had a slightly different running order, as ‘Overdose’ and ‘Take Command’ were swapped. In my eyes, this remix is quite redundant. On the one hand, the sound is a little more heavy and dense, on the other hand, it has lost some of the dynamics and even a little bit of the fury of DESTRUCTOR. Well, now you can compare the versions directly and decide for yourself. In between the two mixes, that both can be found on the first disc, we find two more songs that were recorded for “Maximum Destruction”, but not used. Even though the mix we find here is only a rough mix. ‘Black Night’ is a song that would have fitted great on the first side of the album. And I can’t understand why ‘Bring Down The Hammers’ was omitted, as this rather catchy song would have been a highlight of the album. Yet the most interesting stuff for those who know “Maximum Destruction” from the heart can be found on the second disc of the album. First we have the contribution DESTRUCTOR made for the second part of the once famous “Speed Kills II” compilation series in 1986. The re-recorded version of ‘Pounding Evil’ is pretty much different from the album version, not only because of the added extra intro but it is also a lot thrashier in sound and speed, fitting to the compilation series it was made for. The next four songs are some real gems: The “Decibel Casualties” demo DESTRUCTOR recorded in 1988 surely features some of the finest stuff DESTRUCTOR ever did. Here we find the complete recording sessions, still with Dave Iannica on bass who was murdered in 1988. ‘Bring Down The Hammers’ never sounded better than this and with ‘Storm Of Steel’, we have a real anthem of the band. Both ‘Power Aggression’ and ‘Smash Your Skulls’ (a belated title track for their first demo) are great stuff as well. None of the songs were ever released on a studio recording of DESTRUCTOR, except for ‘Storm Of Steel’, that appeared to be a highlight of the famous “Heavy Artillery” tape compilation in 1990 and was re-recorded for a special EP for the 2007 Keep It True Festival. Next up are two songs that were recorded live in Cleveland on October 18, 1986. Both ‘Destructor’ and ‘Maximum Destruction’ sound ultra-heavy here, very fine versions with a great sound. Another rare recording is a fine demo take of ‘Storm Of Steel’ from 1989, presumably with Paul “Warhead” Habat on bass, who returned to DESTRUCTOR after Dave Iannica passed. Paul also was in the band in 1984 when the legendary “Smash Your Skulls” demo was put on tape and released, which can also be heard on this disc. The songs from “Smash Your Skulls” mostly found their way onto the final version of “Maximum Destruction” with the already mentioned exception of ‘Bring Down The Hammers’. Yet the sound is much rawer and the versions here are faster (just listen to ‘Destructor’ here), making the overall sound of the demo more thrashy. Definitely worth more than a listen. To round the bonus disc up, we find five more live recordings, four of them taped in Cleveland in 1984, that capture the energy of DESTRUCTOR on stage pretty well. Especially ‘Iron Curtain’ and ‘Overdose’ come along really fantastic here. The last one is from a radio broadcast at “WRUF FM Radio Studio A” on September 9, 1985. And with ‘G-Force’ we have another rare track, later used for the “Sonic Bullet” EP and “Back In Bondage” LP. This oldest available version of the mainly mid paced neckbreaker comes along very raw either, but shows the qualities of mid 1980s DESTRUCTOR once more. All this rare stuff was compiled, mastered and restored by Patrick W. Engel in April 2022 from original tapes provided by Dave “Overkill” Just, so it comes from the best original source. And it sounds absolutely worthwhile all the way. So, if you still haven’t checked out “Maximum Destruction”, there’s no excuse any longer to miss out on this classic album with a lot of extras. Visit www.facebook.com/destructormetal and www.facebook.com/hrrecords for more.