''Destroyer'' is the fifth studio album by the Canadian

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

band,

Black Mountain Black Mountain may refer to: Places Australia * Black Mountain (Australian Capital Territory), a mountain in Canberra * Black Mountain, New South Wales, a village in Armidale Regional Council, New South Wales * Black Mountain, Queensland, a loca ...

. It was released on May 24, 2019, by Dine Alone Records and was the band's first new material in three years after their fourth album, ''IV''. ''Destroyer'' is the first album with

Rachel Fannan Rachel Fannan (born March 20, 1986) is an American singer, songwriter, musician and poet from Los Angeles, California. She made her musical debut in 2008, with the release of a solo album entitled ''Deeper Lurking'', under the moniker Birds Fled ...

(from Sleepy Sun) and Adam Bulgasem (from Dommengang and

Soft Kill A countermeasure is a measure or action taken to counter or offset another one. As a general concept, it implies precision and is any technological or tactical solution or system designed to prevent an undesirable outcome in the process. The fi ...

Background

The album was first announced on March 7, 2019, with the release of a single, "Future Shade", described by the lead singer, Stephen McBean, as a "warping" and "rending". McBean described the riff as one that has "traveled around the world then hit the bong with a chorus a year and a half later. A last attempt at double frosting produced a chorus on chorus death match. Anxiety is the new heavy metal." The album takes its name from discontinued single-run 1985

Dodge Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...

Destroyer. The album also refers to the fact that McBean obtained his driver's license in 2017. ''Destroyer'' has contributions from The Flaming Lips' Kliph Scurlock and

Oneida Oneida may refer to: Native American/First Nations * Oneida people, a Native American/First Nations people and one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois Confederacy * Oneida language * Oneida Indian Nation, based in New York * Oneida Na ...

's Kid Millions.

Style and composition

''Destroyer'' has been described as having a mixture of stoner rock, progressive rock,

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

, neo-psychedelia and space rock.

Promotion

Singles

Three singles were released before ''Destroyer''. The first single, "Future Shade", was released on March 7, 2019. "Boogie Lover" came out on April 11, 2019, and "Licensed to Drive" on May 8, 2019. David Nadelle of ''Tiny Mix Tapes'' described "Boogie Lover" as a "bevy of heavy friends both old and new", referring to the appearances by Jeremy Schmidt, Kliph Scurlock (The Flaming Lips), Kid Millions (Oneida), Rachel Fannan ( Sleepy Sun) and Adam Bulgasem ( Dommengang). Chris DeVille of ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several award ...

'' called the song "a spacey, doomy slow creep on which the band sounds as towering and geological as their band name suggests". Also writing for ''Stereogum'', Tom Breihan praised "Licensed to Drive", saying the track "starts out with eerie horror-movie theatrics, locks into ’70s-style dragon-trudge metal, and climaxes with a wild Edgar Winter-ish synth solo. It's flaming-sword music, music for blasting off into the cosmos on a tricked-out GTO."

Critical reception

''Destroyer'' was well received by contemporary music critics. At the review aggregator website, '' Metacritic'', the album has an average rating of 74 out of 100 based on ten critic reviews indicating generally favorable reviews.

Track listing

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2019 albums Albums produced by John Congleton Black Mountain (band) albums Dine Alone Records albums