Music Review: The Destro - Harmony of Discord

Do you like heavy music? Of course you do. So does The Destro. The Dallas, TX, quartet seem to be quite intent on delivering music that punches you in the head repeatedly. There is nothing wrong with this at all, so long as all you want to do is bang your head at one consistent pace for about a half an hour, perhaps even forgetting about song changes. Yes, you read that right, Harmony of Discord is not even a half hour long and it almost feels like one long song!



The band, on Unearth frontman's Trevor Phipps Ironclad label, is certainly heavy. The sound brings together hardcore, southern metal, and a little death metal into one homogeneous conglomeration. It is not exactly an original mixture, but it is an effective one. When you listen, try to picture this in a live setting with a ton of kids looking to unleash some energy, The Destro could just be the perfect catalyst  to set them off into a frenzy.

It strikes me that the entire band takes its cues from guitarist Nick Emde. His guitars are certainly the most dominant sound, the drums follow right along, encouraging the face pounding surge, and the bass, well, the bass is in there somewhere. I suspect he just follows Emde's guitar line, which is already detuned so the bass just disappears. I remember reading an interview with Jason Newsted about ow this happened with him on ...And Justice for All (listen to that album, as great as it is, there is no bass!).

In some ways I am reminded of Emmure. I know, not exactly the same thing, but the impression I get from both bands is that their first and foremost goal is to beat every living thing within earshot into the ground. Neither band is all that interested in expanding genre borders and classifications, rather latch on to what they know best and do it over and over again. Entertaining and worth listening to sure, but it is not something that will enter regular rotation.

For what it is worth I like The Destro. This album is purely by the numbers, but they execute it with reckless abandon and have a production that can keep pace with them. Growly vocals, driving riffs, and a bloody mess left in their wake. Yeah, it all sounds very similar, but can you deny not grooving to it a little? Didn't think so.

Mildly Recommended.


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