Thrash metal bands have been known to switch up their stuff every now and again in an attempt to keep it fresh. Sometimes, it’s simply to crossover into another sub-genre of metal, but some are pure attempts to go mainstream. Which is all good in the long run, though particular records from Megadeth, Testament, and obviously Metallica have certainly raised eyebrows.
However, you won’t have to worry about that when it comes to German aces Destruction. Based on recent comments from bassist and vocalist Marcel Schmier in an interview with webzine iRock, you can count on Destruction to always adopt the “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” model. Though, being German, they’ve got a saying of their own.
“In Germany, we say, ‘Don’t change your winning recipe. Stick to the guns. Stick to what you can do best.’ And for me, what I can do best is playing thrash metal,” Schmier said. “Every album we do sounds a little bit different, but it always will sound like Destruction.
“When you get older, it’s very easy to slow down,” he continued. “A lot of musicians, when they [get] older, they wanna slow down; they wanna play blues; they wanna play more mellow music. For me, that’s never been the case. I think the older you [get], the more you go crazy about it. You wanna still show the young kids how it’s done. When we go out there to the festivals, we compete… To all those young bands, I could be [their] father, so I have to be the role model. So that’s how I see it. Slowing down and changing something is not what we do.”
When asked if playing physically challenging music becomes harder for him as he gets older, Schmier made a very poignant analogy.
“It’s like in football — the old, experienced player, he has the feel for it. The young player runs more and runs faster. The old player has the eye and the brain. And it’s the same in music. Of course I have to train harder to go on stage, but my experience of my age is great because I have better voice control. I know more what I want. I know what I don’t want and where the band belongs. So this experience of a certain 40 years in the music business is, of course, a great one.”
You can check out the full interview with Schmier and iRock just below.
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