Metal Underground.com

Legend has it that Unearth vocalist Trevor Phipps signed The Destro to his Ironclad Recordings label after Unearth needed a band to fill in on a Dallas tour stop. They got hooked up with The Destro, who blew the doors straight off, and Phipps was sold right there. The Destro’s second full-length on Ironclad, “Harmony of Discord,” tries really hard to find more doors to blow off, and while it may not absolutely destroy the passages, it does get in some good shots.

The Destro is an amalgamation of a million sub-genres, but it is a combination we’ve all heard before. Using mostly slower tempos and loose-like-a-hooker guitar strings, The Destro combines that with some death metal styled vocals, a touch of southern metal and groove, and a few breakdowns to complete their mix. Listening to the record, the amalgamation could be death-doom-groove-sludge-thrash-stoner-‘core-grind metal.

Even though this is a seemingly diverse set of influences to draw from, the music is really straightforward. The band wails away from first note to last with no variation. “Justifiers of Malice” starts the album off with a groovy hook that leads into a slow sludge riff. Breakdowns begin to appear toward the end of the song. “Face Down in Regret” closes the album with another mid-tempo groove, interrupted only by the breakdown that is a couple minutes in and closes the song and the album.

In essence The Destro has written the same song nine times over. While specific parts of songs may stand out for a riff that sticks a little bit or a breakdown that is a little more brutal, all the songs sound the same. Over the numerous spins I experimented with changing the order of the songs, and nothing different happened. The only song that stands out at all is the aforementioned “Justifiers of Malice,” as its five minute length gives the band more time to be just a bit more inventive.

The Destro hasn’t done anything new, different, varied or particularly exciting. But what they have done is create a well done, consistent, and heavy album full of sludgy grooves and breakdowns. Sometimes there is something to be said for not messing with a tested formula.