German thrash battalion Destruction have returned with their 17th full length, Born to Perish. The album won't be out until Aug. 9, but you can hear the title track, the first single to be released off the record, below.

There's some new blood in the band as drummer Randy Black (ex-Annihilator, ex-Primal Fear) and guitarist Damir Eskić joined in 2018 and 2019 respectively. Throughout most of their career, Destruction have operated as a thundering power trio and on Born to Perish, they bring a dual guitar attack for the first time since The Least Successful Human Cannonball, though the band has outright disowned that album.

Black makes his presence known with a militaristic drum opening setting the tone on "Born to Perish." Mechanized grooves meld with serrated thrash across a song that proves that after nearly 35 years since the release of their first record, Destruction remain one of the genre's most volatile forces.

"The title track was the first song we wrote for the new record and it definitely shows the strength that Destruction has in 2019," says frontman Schmier. "It immediately set the bar high for the rest of the album. It features everything that we stand for: speed, picking, variety and punch. Randy came up with some very cool drum patterns and Damir offered up a really crunchy solo part, so both new members are heavily involved here!"

Original guitarist Mike adds, "We started the song with some drum patterns that Randy gave us and adjusted some riff ideas we had. It was a nice challenge to write some tight right hand picking for a 212 beats per minute song. As a guitar player this is close to my speed limit, especially on the triplets - great fun to play though!"

Born to Perish will be released on Nuclear Blast Records and can be pre-ordered here. Listen to the title track and see the album art and track listing below.

Destruction, Born to Perish Album Art + Track Listing

Nuclear Blast
Nuclear Blast
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01. "Born To Perish"
02. "Inspired By Death"
03. "Betrayal"
04. "Rotten"
05. "Filthy Wealth"
06. "Butchered For Life"
07. "Tyrants Of The Netherworld"
08. "We Breed Evil"
09. "Fatal Flight 17"
10. "Ratcatcher"
Bonus:
11. "Hellbound"

See Destruction in the Top 50 Thrash Albums of All Time

 

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