We are all a creation of our environment, of our trials. We become what we know, what we are conditioned to be, the sum of our experiences. So it is with musicians, and Metal is no exception. In the early 90's there was no internet within easy grasp and we heard only the Metal that made it to our shores, thus the pool of material to draw inspiration from was infinitely smaller than the vast range available to us in this era of digital wonders. There were some metal bands that DID manage to get their material here in bulk, and they mopped up BIG time. That doesn't mean to say that the other bands weren't getting their CDs here, but they were more underground and far less exposed. Metal was ruled globally by Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Sepultura, RATM, Anthrax, Iron Maiden, Kreator and a few others of note, and their shit was everywhere.
It should be no suprise then that many of the Perth metal bands of this era were highly influenced by these bands, and were playing what we loosely term "Thrash" and "Speed" metal today. In those days it was known simply as "METAL", and SFD were fucking good at it.
"Destruction of the Youth" was SFD's second release, the only one that I am aware of that managed to be not only a tape release but a CD release also, a costly thing to do in this era in Perth. It has crappy artwork and a shitty layout, and has a pretty ordinary recording quality. At first glance it would be easy to write it off as a cheap nasty product - and perhaps it was - but stick it in and press play and your persistance is justified tenfold. This is REAL metal, balls out and banging away, no pretense, no polish and definately no quarter given. Fitting somewhere between Beneathe the Remains era Sepultura, South of Heaven era Slayer and snapping chunks of raw meat from the other big bands of the time, this is an album that manages to sound completely unrefined and raw while delivering songs that written with finesse and skill.
"Destruction of the Youth" gets off to a blistering start with "Premature Rushing", whipping stright into Reign in Blood- paced speedmetal ferocity, and then a Pantera style dirty groove, the drums just pounding along behind it all. It then goes into a more Mustaine style high speed picking change and a Metallica-esque breakdown section, and the next song enters with a quote I can't identify followed by a very Arise-era Sepultura-ish song with the quite fantastic name of "SNAFU". From there it just gets better and better, with songs showing experimentation in structure and style by all instruments. There are creative vocal attacks like in the chorous of the amazing "Signs of Despair", Iron Maiden-like lead breaks, samples and more. Song four "The Savior" starts off with a big keyboard and orchestral drums style intro leading into a long intro reminiscent of Megadeths "Good Mourning", it sounds tops and gets even better as it works its way through through thrashr riffs and pumping speedgrooves..... its all there and its all great.
I can't find a definate favourite in this 6 track EP of cranking songs, but anyone who was around in the days of SFD would be aware of Song 5, the brilliant crowd favourite "Hairy Mammal". Great fucking song.
Musicianship-wise, this is one of the best EPs I've heard. There is nothing pretentious or tossy going on and nobody is trying to be Satriani, but the band is on song and just kills. Throughout the whole CD the vocals are catchy as hell, you just want to yell them right back. But unlike many of the bands of this generation, they go one step further and use the vocals as a dynamic instrument all of their own, with super-hooky chorouses, slick backing vocals and even a brilliantly written vocal harmony section. The guitars suffer from an inconsistent mix, but are so good that it doesn't matter worth a damn, they just thrash out and destroy. Drumwork is beyond competent, it would have been about best the city had to offer at the time, fast and agile and with flashy changes. In a time when Allegiance was the band who ruled the city and SFD were the ugly younger brother, many of us thought SFD were the better band, and the drums were a big part of this. All too often the Bass gets glossed over in my reviews, the truth is that it is seldom that I hear bass work that gives me reason to applaud, but whether the poor recording quality of the guitars gives the Bass more distinction or not I can't say, I just know that on this CD it is sounds exceptional.
I had forgotten about this CD for years and after Dustin provided me a CD I expected to give it a cursory listen and review it, but it has been in my car for a week straight and I have enjoyed the shit out of it. I reckon that if "Destruction of the Youth" had had the budget behind it that the big US bands of the day had been blessed with, it would have been able to stand tall with the greats of the day. Unfortunately it was not to be, and they are long since departed.
Find a copy if you can, you won't regret it.
Review by Jez.
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