''Destroy the Machines'' is the debut studio album by American

metalcore Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of ...

band

Earth Crisis Earth Crisis is an American hardcore punk band from Syracuse, New York, active from 1989 until 2001, reuniting in 2007. Since 1993 the band's longest serving members are vocalist Karl Buechner, lead guitarist Scott Crouse, bassist Ian Edward ...

, it was released in 1995. It is widely considered a landmark release in

Music and lyrics

Earth Crisis recorded ''Destroy the Machines'' in the studio of

progressive thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

band Believer in Pennsylvania, being introduced to them by friend Jim Winters of Conviction, who also toured with Earth Crisis. Guitarist Scott Crouse, who admired Believer, was inspired by them to practice arduously and improve his technique. On the album, the band determined to make the songs sound like "somebody continuously hitting something with a hammer", picturing every song as "pounding, pounding, ndpounding." ''

MetalSucks MetalSucks is a heavy metal music-themed news website. The site features reviews, interviews, information on latest metal releases and blog-like posts from the writers, most notably Vince Neilstein and Axl Rosenberg. History The site was foun ...

'' described ''Destroy the Machines'' as a "

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

take on the

Pantera Pantera () is an American heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas formed in 1981, and currently comprised of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, and touring musicians Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante. The group's best-kn ...

Exhorder Exhorder is an American heavy metal band from New Orleans, Louisiana. They are considered progenitors of the groove-oriented thrash sound later made famous by bands such as Pantera, Lamb of God, White Zombie and Machine Head, and their music ...

Prong Prong or Prongs may refer to: * Prong, synonym of tine (structural), a branch or spike of various tools and natural objects * Prong (band), an American metal band * Prong (company), an iPhone accessories company in New York City * Prongs, British ...

school of late 80s-early 90s power groove thrash". Commenting on the lyrics,

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

stated that "

hey Hey or Hey! may refer to: Music * Hey (band), a Polish rock band Albums * ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014 * ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980 * ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the title s ...

burn with resentment directed at those who (in the estimation of vocalist

Karl Buechner Karl Buechner (born December 23, 1970) is an American musician from Syracuse, New York, best known as the frontman for the hardcore band Earth Crisis. He is also the singer of Freya, Path of Resistance, Vehement Serenade, Apocalypse Tribe and 1 ...

) bring contamination and death to the earth and the defenseless creatures that reside on it." The overall theme is an approaching ecological apocalypse, the destruction of defenseless creatures, self-destruction, and a means of liberation which is proposed as being

veganism Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...

and

straight edge Straight edge (sometimes abbreviated sXe or signified by XXX or X) is a subculture of hardcore punk whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, and other recreational drugs, in reaction to the excesses of punk subculture. For some, thi ...

. By the time of the tour in 1995, Buechner was personally taking care of twelve rescued animals from Syracuse Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, where he volunteered.

Legacy

In April 2018, ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' named ''Destroy the Machines'' one of the fifteen best hardcore punk albums of all time. ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...

'' placed it among "The 21 Best U.S. Metalcore Albums of All Time." In 2017, ''

Loudwire ''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August of 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive ...

'' ranked ''Destroy the Machines'' 7th on its list of the best metalcore albums of all time. Dan Gump of

Life Sentence Records Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

named it the most representative album of the 1990s. The Duch band Born from Pain and the Argentinian band

Nueva Ética Nueva Ética (''New Ethic'') is an Argentine metalcore band formed in Buenos Aires in 1998. They follow the vegan straight edge philosophy and are one of the first Latin American hardcore punk bands to tour the world. Nueva Ética's music has be ...

("New Ethic" in Spanish) are named after songs from the album. In March 2015, celebrating the release of ''The Discipline'' EP which re-released songs from ''Destroy the Machines'', several musicians and animal right activists paid tribute to it, including

Davey Havok David Paden Marchand (born David Paden Passaro, November 20, 1975), known professionally as Davey Havok, is an American singer and musician who is the lead vocalist of the Rock music, rock band AFI (band), AFI, the synth-pop band Blaqk Audio, the ...

AFI AFI may refer to: * ''Address-family identifier'', a 16 bit field of the Routing Information Protocol * Ashton Fletcher Irwin, an Australian drummer * AFI (band), an American rock band ** ''AFI'' (2004 album), a retrospective album by AFI rele ...

Andy Hurley Andrew John Hurley (born May 31, 1980) is an American musician. He is the drummer for the rock band Fall Out Boy. Prior to Fall Out Boy, Hurley played in several hardcore punk bands. He joined Fall Out Boy as the full-time drummer in 2003 and ...

Fall Out Boy Fall Out Boy is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Wilmette, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump, bassist Pete Wentz, lead guitarist Joe Trohman, and drummer A ...

Peter Daniel Young Peter Daniel Young is an American animal rights activist. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in 1998 on charges related to fur farm raids in Iowa, South Dakota, and Wisconsin in 1997. He was in hiding for seven years, before being arrested ...

and

Toby Morse Toby Morse (born April 8, 1970) is an American vocalist who is best known as the lead singer for punk rock band H2O. He is also one of the vocalists for hardcore punk group Hazen Street. Early life Morse was born on April 8, 1970 in Taunto ...

of H₂O. The song "Forced March" was covered by

Between the Buried and Me Between the Buried and Me, often abbreviated as BTBAM, is an American progressive metal band from Raleigh, North Carolina. Formed in 2000, the band consists of Tommy Giles Rogers Jr. (lead vocals, keyboards), Paul Waggoner (lead guitar, backing ...

on their 2006 album '' The Anatomy Of'' and "The Wrath of Sanity" was covered by

First Blood ''First Blood'' (also known as ''Rambo: First Blood'') is a 1982 American action film directed by Ted Kotcheff, and co-written by Sylvester Stallone, who also stars as Vietnam War veteran John Rambo. It co-stars Richard Crenna as Rambo's mentor ...

on their 2012 album '' FBI Vol. 1''. "The Wrath of Sanity" is quoted in the songs "No Contest" (2005) by

Gather Gather, gatherer, or gathering may refer to: Anthropology and sociology * Hunter-gatherer, a person or a society whose subsistence depends on hunting and gathering of wild foods *Intensive gathering, the practice of cultivating wild plants as a s ...

and "Rules of Conviction" (2017) by First Blood and Jesse Barnett, the latter of which was dedicated to Earth Crisis and Path of Resistance.

Maroon Maroon ( US/ UK , Australia ) is a brownish crimson color that takes its name from the French word ''marron'', or chestnut. "Marron" is also one of the French translations for "brown". According to multiple dictionaries, there are var ...

quotes ''Destroy the Machines'' in their 2006 song "24HourHate". An increase of animal rights activism corresponded with the rise of vegan straight edge bands during the 1990s, a phenomenon which activist

attributes largely to ''Destroy the Machines''.

Track listing

All songs written by

Credits

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

* Scott Crouse -

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

*Ian Edwards - bass * Dennis Merrick -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

* Kris Wiechmann -

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

References

{{Authority control Earth Crisis albums 1995 debut albums Victory Records albums