Nailed

Five albums and gazillions of singles into Pain's existence, it's still difficult to accept the fact that this industrial music project is actually helmed by extreme metal producer extraordinaire Peter Tägtgren, but Psalms of Extinction (that fifth album) adds another few layers of belief - even if it gets off to an inconspicuous start. With little more than a jagged metallic riff to counter its robotic dullness, first track "Save Your Prayers" pretty much falls flat on its polished chrome face, but next cut "Nailed to the Ground" turns the ship around with a more danceable beat, groovy Rammstein riff, and a surprisingly catchy singalong chorus. Somewhat surprisingly, it's this particularly accessible formula that usually produces the album's best moments when repeated for ensuing tracks like "Clouds of Ecstasy," "Does It Really Matter," "Just Think Again," and "Bottle's Nest"…

This DVD is an example of how a music DVD should be made. Destruction's return to the forefront of the thrash scene is made complete with this release…

Among headbangers, the Wacken Open Air Festival (held annually in Wacken, Germany) inspires the type of excitement that people in other areas of music feel for the Montreux Jazz Festival, the Chicago Blues Festival, or the Philadelphia Folk Festival. In other words, Wacken Open Air is a big deal in the metal world just as Montreux is a big deal among jazz enthusiasts and the Philadelphia Folk Festival is a big deal if one is seriously into folk. And whenever Wacken Open Air takes place, it's a safe bet that some bands will be doing some recording and/or filming for a live release…

Many seem compelled to call The Antichrist the 'comeback' album for Destruction, but this not chronologically nor logically the case. The sound here is one lifted straight from its predecessor, All Hell Breaks Loose, but pummeled into perfection. That album was a fresh act of violence borne from a stagnant musical relationship, while this is like a freight train hitting you at a thousand miles an hour, a mushroom cloud being formed over your conscience, an instant window to everything you loved about this band in the 80s and then some…