Interview with black death thrash metal band from Australia - DESTRUKTOR.
Answered Glenn Destruktor (vocals, guitars), thank you!
Recenze/review - DESTRUKTOR - Indomitable (2024):
Ave DESTRUKTOR! Hello to the Australian underground. Before we look at your album, I must thank you. I first heard the new album "Indomitable" one Friday when I was walking home from work totally pissed off. You know, everything was coming at me. People around me seemed dumb and stupid. I felt like putting the speakers up against them and turning your music up. You've made a record that breaks bones! How and where did you want to move on from the previous album "Opprobrium"? I find the new one more raw, wilder.
Hails Jakub! Thank you for your words and support man! Your simple analysis is very much what the intention was with the album. Nothing in particular was over-thought, but Jared and I decided early that the next album was going to be a bit wilder, and basically by that, we just got into the songs quicker with minimal epic sort of build ups. The next album, once again, will have the Destruktor trademarks, but might be a touch more varied, maybe a bit more mood, a little more black, we shall see though. I will be pulling some riffs from years ago, which no doubt means we won’t venture too far from what we have done the last 3 decades.
Not to forget, could you please introduce your band? Honest fans of death metal and black metal probably know you, but for the rest. Please take us through the history of DESTRUKTOR? How did you guys get together back in 1997 and why this particular style of music? Please reminisce for us.
DESTRUKTOR came to be around the the end of the year 1996, from the ashes of APHASIA. Jarro (original drummer) managed to tune into the radio show I was doing at the time, “Armageddon”, and got in touch. We both played instruments, but lived far away from each other and could not drive so we only jammed once and did a demo as Aphasia 1995. Jarro left, then rejoined and we did another demo in 1997, this time as Destruktor. Jarro basically left to play with D666 whilst I spread the demo, made connections and did interviews all over the place 1997-99 and Regan joined the ranks on Bass whilst Jarro eventually completely dropped off from the band before Chris Volcano offered to do the drums for our Brutal Desecration EP and first live show around 2001. Jarro rejoined not long after this and we did another 2 gigs, released a split live 7" with Nunslaughter, and recorded Nuclear Storm, then Jarro left for the last time early 2002 after one last gig. I continued primarily solo again until 203/2004 when I met local metalhead and drummer Jared. This started a strong, consistant and trusted connection as not just muso's and metalheads, but top fucking mates!
A split 10"/MCD with Bestial Mockery was the last recording to feature Regan on Bass, and he left DESTRUKTOR when we moved to Geelong, and recorded Nailed as a 2 piece around the time we recruited Brad to handle Bass duties, which he did on our split 7" with Throneum, and then Opprobrium. We played some killer gigs including internationals in New Zealand and then the USA, before Brad was moved on. Jared on I kept things rolling slowly for a period before getting Chris on Bass, who has been in the fold for 5 years now, and was the first person I asked to replace Regan when we moved to Geelong back in 2007, but he was too busy at the time!
Why this music? I guess it all starts from what got me into the extreme metal back in the day. Death Metal like Deicide and Morbid Angel, Black Metal like Emperor and Dark Throne, more savage shit like Blasphemy, Beherit, Sarcofago, darker shit like early My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost, Anathema. Heavy, Dark, Intense, Evil shit. I was not interested in the softer elements that many bands of the mid-90's started gravitating to.
Let's get to the news. Probably everyone who discovers some new music, even I put a lot on the cover, they say the cover sells. Who's the author of this year's hilarious theme? How did you guys get together? And how does the cover theme relate to the music?
NOTE-(Hilarious means “Funny” in English)
The tried and trusted Mark Riddick was the man behind the art, as he has done for all 3 of our full length albums. We became aware of him as Hells Headbangers used his art for our split with Bestial Mockery. We work closely with him when the time comes. We'll put the idea theme to him, and let him go for it, then adjsut to suit our needs before he finalises it all. It is not "off the shelf" stuff, jsut like the first two full lengths.
The cover directly relates to the title track, being about Death itself, and the line “I am the poisoned arrow aimed at the target on your back” connects the two specifically.
As I mentioned before, the songs literally crush my bones. The sound contributes a lot to that. It's dirty, it's raw, it's like a bulldozer in a cemetery. Tell us, where did you record, who is signed for mastering and mixing?
This time around, we worked with Adam Calaitzis at Toyland Studio in Melbourne, which is an hour or so from where we live. It was our first time with this set up, and we went in with the intent of not cleaning things up too much, keeping it as "live” as possible. We did our thing, and he brought it all together with a little creative freedom. He has been doing some of the more extreme stuff for many years, and is a master of his art.
For Mastering, we used Dav Byrne at Iridium Audio in Ballarat. He has done a lot of things with a heavy sound, so trusted he would take care of that side of things with aplomb, and he also knew to not compromise on that sharpness we lean towards. He was also responsible for the mastering/re-mastering for all content in the “Unholy Trinity” Compilation CD. We have known him for years, and we had him lined up a long way out! Like Adam, he is a master of his craft, and it is great to be able to keep things local! It worked out very well indeed!
What are the lyrics on "Indomitable" about? Is it a death black classic - graves, bones, skulls, graveyards? Or are you trying to convey something, a message? Who is the author?
I have taken care of most lyrics over the years, and for Indomitable, I wrote them all. They were done towards the end of the process, but in the initial stages of putting together lyrics, it appeared that all themes were leaning towards death (surprise!), and when considering what was actually “Indomitable”, I came to the simple conclusion that “death” is indomitable so I did end up developing a theme throughout the album, and once I started zoning in on the lyrics, they just came out of me song by song at a steady pace.
At this age, fair to say I have lived a life, and unlike before, I drew a lot more from personal shit, and it is by far the darkest, deepest lyrics I have written for basically anything from past to present.
My favourite question and I think the readers' too. How does DESTRUKTOR create new songs? Please let us take a peek into your kitchen. Who is the author of the basic themes? Is everything created in the rehearsal room? I would be interested in the actual process of composing new songs.
Well, over the years it has happened in many ways, but at the centre of it all has been the riffs I have written/put together. Some of the early stuff was written by me before any rehearsals had taken place as we did not have a drummer for periods in the older days. That is not so much the case now.
Generally, I’ll have a riff that is of Destruktor quality, sometimes a couple, and we will start rehearsing that as a band. I tend to have a basic idea of beats and feel to get things moving along, and then things just take form from there. I always have ideas, but Jared will introduce some accent that adds a dynamic, might change how the feel of the song should be, or initiates a new idea with another beat whilst just rehearsing which then in turn changes how the song is going to come along. Vocally, I know early where the vocals will be, but the lyrics and patterns do not get done until late in the process.
Bit by bit Chris adds his thing, throws in ideas, and for Indomitable, he was great in working through the whole session, like an assistant engineer and also, in particular pushing me to go that bit harder and adding some creative input/feedback when I was laying down vocals.
Ultimately, the rehearsal room is where most songs get developed, but there are no rules on how things must be done. Due to my distance from the other 2 at the moment, I might have to knuckle down and do it the old way and get a majority of a song written, but I am close to seperating a heap of old usable riffs from old unusable riffs, and might take creative license to write something a little more epic on the side whilst we knuckle down and do a couple of typical Destruktor smashers. Really though, who the fuck knows? this tie we might do a bit of pre-production earlier in the piece, and that might change how we look at things. No rules!
I'm wondering a little bit about one thing. You're from Australia and I follow your scene quite closely. Most of your underground death metal bands play very dark, cold and at the same time their music has a certain wildness, animalism. For me that's the hallmark of Australian bands (at least that's how I perceive it). But you guys are "different", you have your own face! Raw, uncompromising. Do you feel music differently? Did you have other role models?
Oh yeah, I feel we have our own sort of spot man. I can say that most “underground” bands in Australia are not dark and cold, yet somewhat wild. Plenty of generic shit, wimpy melodic crap, but the “underground” as I knew it was Necrotomy, Corpse Molestation, Bestial Warlust, Sadistik Exekution, Martire, Abominator and the like, which we can source the more “wild” element to the local scene.
DESTRUKTOR for some time was driven almost exclusively by me, and I lived away from any scene. I was more a lone wolf in the wilderness on the outskirts of the desert. I had no one to impress apart from Jamie and another couple of mates. I absorbed myself in the underground with letters and buying/trading/selling
I grew up with a musical household. I saw Queen when I was 7 in 1985, I loved KISS when I was 4. My parents both played instruments/sang, We had instruments in the house, and music was pretty much the most important thing for me from a young age. Dad played Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, The Beatles and the like on the stereo, Mum played Queen and lot’s of random stuff. I was given free reign when it come to my music. I liked a bit of pop music (and still don't mind some of the pop I grew up with), but I liked the themes and sound and feel of the heavier stuff from a young age. I might not be unreasonable to suggest that some of the song craft would come from earlier pop and rock influences, with KISS and Metallica shaping me for the first 15 years of my life primarily. I guess when I moved onto the extreme stuff, I found my influences from a wide range of death/black/thrash/doom metal mostly from the late 80’s to the mid 90’s.
There has been influence from other members in many different ways, and the occasional line up changes combined with our time between releases means every EP and full length recording has been recorded with a different line up. The next album will be a bit different again as every song will be crafted with the Indomitable line-up (Chris joined after we had some stuff written for Indomitable). I also have a different living arrangement, and we do not jam in the shed at my old house as we had done for the last few years, so we will approach the new songs in a slightly different manner, but it will be when we jam, as always, that things will get repeated, improved, completed etc.
Everybody started somehow, learning, discovering. DESTRUKTOR are a band of experienced musicians. But what were your beginnings like? What was your first impulse to pick up an instrument, what kind of bands did you listen to when you were young?
Well, I guess I answered that in the previous questions. I learnt a few chords when I was 10 and went from there. It was probably Ace Frehley and KISS that inspired me more than any other band for my first years of life. I have gone through some stuff I liked, but it was in 1988 when Poison, GNR, Skid Row, Motley Crue and the like ruled the world that really set me on a path towards heavier and harder stuff.
It is best Jared and Chris speak for themselves, but Jared certainly had a musicians upbringing, his Dad was a muso, and Jared discovered jazz and the like from a pretty young age. Fair to say he is the most musical of us all. Can play guitar, bass, sing, a bit of piano, whatever else you put in front of him. And Chris, well he is into a wide range of shit also, not blinkered by extremity only but metal is his absolute passion, and his field of expertise. I am musically a little more diverse than would be perceived, but I am stauncher, and less open to non-metal shit (and metal shit). I take a bit of the ignorance is bliss attitude with my metal.
You've already released your third album on the excellent Hells Headbangers Records. Great choice! The new album was released as a cassette, CD and digitally. The album will even be released on vinyl. What's your relationship with music media? Are you a collector? Do you support bands?
Of course, due to my delay in answering this interview, everything has been released and is available, though some stuff might be getting a bit low or sold out already. I am not too sure as we have nearly ran out of our supply. Hells Headbangers have stuck with us, and us them for over 2 decades. It was a pact made in hell!
In regards to media, I have been a collector for many years. I have my old mags, plenty of old tapes, CD’s, records, posters etc. I have thinned the collection out slightly over the last 5 years, but I can’t help myself from picking up the occasional new thing also. I only have so much space to work with, and I have enough to do me until I am dead really, so it is more replacing, updating, and finding the occasional gem. I care very, very little for the digital side of things. Apart from a bit of youtube, I don’t really use streaming services for music at all.
I from time to time chase up something by newer bands, but not so often. I have plenty to keep me occupied, responsibilities etc, so I try to get stuff I will use/listen to, I am not interested in building a crazy huge collection, I am quite happy with what I have.
I'm always interested in what the underground is like in the country a band comes from. How is Australia and death black metal? Do people go to a lot of shows? Do they buy records, merchandise? How's it going in Australia, for example, which you think is a very good gig?
Australia has a moderately strong scene when it comes to the underground scene. It is not big by any means, but people get out and support shows, and buy merch. But, some things never change, and unless you are any good (or at least build a following of bandwagoners), you won’t get many people coming to your gigs, and you will not sell much merch.
There have been many great/good bands over many years, and no point me mentioning them really, do a bit of digging for yourself, too many to mention really
If you mean by attendance, really, for a more local show with 3 or 4 bands, and not of big status, 100 or so people is generally OK for most of the bigger cities, but really, 150-200 is probably considered successful for something with a couple of stronger Aussie bands headling/co-headling. We sold out a venue with a 250 capacity in Sydney, and for our sort of stuff, that is certainly above expectations, and a rarity for us. Get the right bill, on the right night, at the right venue, and things can still go very well.
For the occasional bigger show (not festivals), sometimes a touring band, or one of the bigger Aussie bands such as Portal 500-1000, would be as good as it gets aside from a very rare exception.
What about you and gigs in general? How important are they for you? Are you more into big festivals or small clubs? What about any touring, will there be any? Maybe Obscene Extreme or Brutal Assault would be ideal festivals for you!
For me, they are just a part of the bigger picture. It helps spread the word further, helps sell merch, but not necessarily essential. It is not my favourite part playing in a band, but it is cool to get out to see other places. and see people I aint seen in ages, or never met (but know) Hopefully plenty more to see!
I prefer smaller local gigs. Give me 200 people getting into over 500 people with 100 getting into it. The vibe and atmosphere rules over motionless people just coming for the scenery. I hope to find out more so what some bigger gigs will be like. We have played a few, but not often.
Chris has made the journey from Australia to Brutal Assault more than once, and has expressed his desire to get over for that. I’m sure it would be killer. If the right offer is put up to do such things, we are very open to going anywhere basically.
There are discussions happening in regards to getting off Australian land, and hopefully we can make an announcement before years end. It could be Europe, maybe the Americas, and if not, we expect to at least get to parts of Asia. It is time we started speaking to more people as we are keen to do this over 2026/27! Promoters, get in touch if you think you might be able to assist in getting us to your lands!
Finally, I'll allow myself one slightly philosophical question. What does music mean to you? How would you define death black metal. Is it a rest, relaxation or lifestyle for you?
Music is the key to my life really. It has been there through thick and thin. Death/Black Metal can be all 3 of rest, relaxation and lifestyle. I have music for all moods, and sometimes it is not extreme stuff. It can be enjoyed alone, socially, can be quiet, loud, fast, slow, sad, happy. Different metal (and other styles of music) suit different moods. I mean, when I was younger, and more depressed and the like, I would listen to moody, and dark music. Doom stuff like My Dying Bride, Anathema, Worship, Skepticism etc. Depressive music for depressive people. Happy, energetic music does not suit that mood. I am sure many people understand what I mean.
Please tell us more about what DESTRUKTOR is planning in the next few months? Give a little hint to the fans.
We have a couple of gigs in our Sourthern most state, Tasmania, booked for early April, and headling the pre-Essence festival in the nations capital, Canberra, in October.
We may play other gigs over the coming months, but we have had a few recently, and it would be good to maybe just jam, add a couple of old songs to the live repertoire, and start working on a couple of new songs. Playing new lands is also on the agenda, and needs to be moved on sooner than later. I certainly don’t expect such a long timespan between albums next time, but still, it can’t be forced. I am keen to get something on the move with that soon.
Thank you very much for the interview. When I get pissed off at work again or when I watch the news and need to clear my head, I know what I'll be listening to - of course "Indomitable"! It's a great album, thanks so much for it too! Good luck to you!
Recenze/review - DESTRUKTOR - Indomitable (2024):
Recenze/review - DESTRUKTOR – Opprobrium (2015):
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
sledujte nás na sociálních sítích - follow us on the social media:
instagram:
facebook:
