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Destruction Unit

Deep Trip

Written by: BV on 01/09/2013 22:40:47

There are quite a few things I wonder about these days; one of them would most definitely be the apparent duality of Arizona-based space-punk outfit Destruction Unit who, with their second album, “Deep Trip”, seemingly blend the escapism of Hawkwind inspired space-rock and the direct, in-your-face ‘confrontational’ sound of late 70’s punk. It’s not a new blend, if one is to be perfectly honest, as Hawkwind could rip some ferocious riffs with the best of them, while maintaining their songwriting style concerning psychedelic warlords and a constant search of space.

Destruction Unit however, take this punk-like sound to far more extreme levels than Hawkwind ever dared, going all-out with dissonant and heavy riffs bathed in the sweet nectar of psychedelia drenched space rock. – And most interestingly so, that is. On “The World on Drugs” the amount of fuzzed out riffing is downright insane whilst never really become absolutely unbearable for the mellower psych-heads. The atmosphere is, above all, inhumanely trippy – but it’s a different kind of trip as it leads to the murkier parts of the psychedelic experience, sounding frantic, paranoid and utterly schizophrenic out of sheer duality. This particular feeling seems to flow through the album, effectively turning tracks like “Final Flight” and “The Holy Ghost” into crunchy monoliths that mix anxiety, escapism and utter delusion into well-structured and incredibly refreshing space-punk tracks that both contain solid riffs, expansive soundscapes and perfectly suited vocals.

This general sound of corrosion, howling vocals and punk-attitude is especially refreshing in the sense that Destruction Unit have opted for the relatively short run times, thus differentiating themselves from the vast majority of space rock outfits out there. “The Church of Jesus Christ” is an excellent example of this as the brutally simple, almost caveman-like drumming and the cataclysmic blend of fuzz, wah, phasers and echoes on the guitars culminate in 3 minutes of utterly psychedelic mayhem.

However, the simplicity comes at a price as the soundscape quickly becomes predictable and monotonous – thus bringing us back to the reason why Destruction Unit are as refreshing as I would deem them to be. The shorter run times and the hugely downplayed repetition is where the album has its strong suits – however, as the album itself never fully grows from that starting point, the album itself grows to be monotonous; essentially bringing the space-rock/punk hybrid back to square one in terms of innovation. Nonetheless, this album is rock solid and promises that greater things will probably come from Destruction Unit. I’ll be waiting.

Download: The World on Drugs, The Church of Jesus Christ, God Trip
For The Fans Of: Hawkwind, White Hills, The Cosmic Dead
Listen: facebook.com

Release Date 20.08.2013
Sacred Bones Records