Desecrator VS Destruktor
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Desecrator VS Destruktor

This issue Forté managed to get Glenn Lynch from death metal band Destruktor and Riley Strong from thrash band Desecrator to interview each other ahead of their gig at the Barwon Club at the end of the month alongside Hidden Intent, Blackhelm and Nemesium. Have at it boys…

Glenn: Riley, you are back in Geelong shortly after conquering numerous corners of the world! What are your thoughts and memories of your gigs in Geelong previously? You must’ve played here three or four times over the last seven years?!
Riley: Mate we’ve always loved Geelong. From very early in Desecrator’s gigging career we always had it in the touring schedule. A lot of Melbourne bands avoid it or don’t understand how to make it work, but I think with a healthy respect of the local talent and good line-ups of bands, there’s great potential in Geelong and always has been! Without blowing too much wind up them, our favourite memories always invoke Destruktor, even when we were a fresh band they would give us a go in Geelong and get right onto people to back us and we don’t forget that type of thing.

Glenn: You got to play in Europe with legends Venom! Did you get to hang with Mantas?
Riley: That tour was killer, those guys are some of the most humble human beings I have ever met! Really aware but unaffected by their status and ultra supportive of us as a band right from the start! A lot of friendships were formed during those 17 odd shows through many a calamity on and off stage but if I was to pick a moment that didn’t involve Jack Daniels it would be the night that Mantas started taking selfies in front of me while Desecrator were playing to post online, he thought he was hilarious down the front acting like the fans do to him! What a guy and what a band.

Glenn: Finally, after putting in the hard yards, you have a full length album available, which this tour of yours is supporting. What can we expect on this album?
Riley: To The Gallows has been going really well for us so far which is a huge relief after waiting so long to record and release it. It’s definitely full of a lot of growth from our earlier and rawer thrash days but it still carries who we are and how fast we do what we do massively through it. Does have a ballad though… track four of course.

Glenn: You guys are on the up and up. Once this tour is done, what next? A worldwide tour with Metallica or something??
Riley: That’d be nice but nah they probably want to take The Datsuns back out on a St Anger reunion tour or something. We do have some overseas plans for later this year and we just signed a new management deal in Europe so they’re pretty keen to see how high we can jump for them but right now it’s all guns blazing around Australia to show some Metalhead’s what thrash sounds like again.

Glenn: You guys are renowned for an entertaining, hard hitting set. Are you going play a couple of old classics for us fans from the earlier days, in particular 1800 Volts and Destroying Gods Work? I’ll do a deal with you and play a song you want us to play if you play them both. Don’t let me down Riley!
Riley: I’ll trade you ‘1800 Volts’ for ‘Forward We March’ any day! I know I’m winning in that arrangement plus I get to do my altered lyric version which is only relevant in Geelong whilst Nemesium guitarist Chris McEwin is in the room (you’ll just have to come see). We’re mainly bashing out the songs off the new record, but that in itself is a sight to behold as the songs have only gotten harder as we’ve gotten older!

DESTRUKTOR PHOTO

Then we had Desecrator’s Riley take the lead with questions towards Destruktor.

Riley: Destruktor are veterans of the Australian scene but have been known to be quite recluse when it comes to live shows, what about this one drew you out?
Glenn: Whilst we may lurk in the shadows, we like to keep on the edge of the scene. Considering we have not played in our hometown for two and a half years, and barely played a song from our last album here, the time was right and we were asked at the right time. Simply put, being overdue, and the offer to play with some good blokes I’ve known for sometime was enough to get us on the line up.

Riley: You’ve got a few albums out on much respected American label Hells Headbangers but one more recent than the rest, care to tell us about it?
Glenn: This album you speak of is OPPROBRIUM. Seven songs clocking in at just over half an hour. The perfect length for a band like us. If someone told me five years ago that we would have a nine minute song on any of our albums, I would’ve laughed or argued, but we did, and for many, has gone down as a favourite track of ours. Unfortunately it leave us in the position where the song is basically demanded to be played every time now, and it is not the easiest one for us to play.

Riley: Destruktor have always been very staunch live partners in Geelong and had healthy support from the town. Over the years how have you felt about the sometimes criticised live scene?
Glenn: Staunch indeed. I certainly wouldn’t say that we have had healthy support, and I still swear plenty of Geelong metal heads are only partially aware of us, if at all. Gigs can be hit and miss in Geelong, but if the word gets out, and the line-up is strong, then it can be a very solid night indeed. Various factors affect the gigs here, but give it a shot, and you may be pleasantly surprised. Overall, I still think the music scene is quite strong down here, and you can still pull bigger crowds here than you may get at bigger cities.

Riley: If your set was only one song long, which song would you pick?
Glenn: Easy mate. It could only be Forever The Blood Shall Flow. It seems to be the most in demand song of ours, and being nine minutes long, is the obvious choice. I suggest those coming to check it out on YouTube if they want to get familiar with something from our set. Then they can come in and be disappointed that every other song is shorter and sharper!

Riley: What’s next for Destruktor? Surely the success of your trip to America needs a follow up?
Glenn: The trip to The Sates was fucking bonza!! We’d love to return, but for now, we will wait and see. Playing at The Agora Theatre in Cleveland was like nothing else before or since. We have booked flights to go to Wellington in July, our second time there. We are co-headlining with New Zealand merchants of destruction Heresiarch for their debut album launch. Apart from that, we will be working on a follow up to Opprobrium. The new songs are really coming along, and as usual, no wimp out!!

This will be a night of thrash, death and black metal not to be missed.

When & Where: The Barwon Club, Geelong – April 28

Get tickets and find out more via Facebook and the website.