DESTRUCTION’s SCHMIER: Why American Thrash Bands Became More Commercially Successful Than Their German Counterparts

In a new interview with Chris Akin Presents, DESTRUCTION bassist/vocalist Schmier was asked why he thinks American thrash bands like METALLICA and SLAYER achieved greater success than German bands such as DESTRUCTION and KREATOR, even though they all came out in the early 1980s. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “You have to see that the States are a huge music market — the biggest music market in the world. So, when you’re big in America, you can be big everywhere. Basically, that’s what they do with a lot of the pop artists too — they make them big in the States first, then they come over to the U.K., they come to Europe and then they conquer the world.”I think a lot of the European bands that got big in Europe had to be big in America first, like SCORPIONS,” he continued. “SCORPIONS went big in America and also big in Japan, and then they finally got recognized in Germany also. So I think America, as a music market, it’s the most powerful music market in the world. And if you’re big in America, you can be big everywhere. So METALLICA and SLAYER, they broke through and MEGADETH, they broke through in America, because also back in the day, remember you had MTV, you had ‘Headbangers Ball’, and that shit was playing all over, in every home in the States, and it was huge. And I think Europe was a little bit behind with the kind of [support from the media]. Later on, we had had ‘Headbangers Ball’ too, but it never went as big as in America.”METALLICA became commercial at one point with the ‘Black Album’,” Schmier added. “They made a big step working with [producer] Bob Rock, and he made an amazing album with the band, with very catchy songs. And the European bands stayed filthy — we kept on thrashing. And the same goes with MEGADETH — they had some really commercial albums. And ‘Symphony Of Destruction’ is just a simple fucking hit. You also have to see that the American bands are all older than us. They are our bigger brothers. We’re basically the little brothers of the American bands. We came out in almost the same time — there’s not a big time difference in between those albums; our first demo came out ’83 already also — but the guys were a little bit older, more experienced musicians at that time already. And I think this is also a little plus for the Americans. Also in America, [you had] the big producers. The first ANTHRAX, the first METALLICA, they sound amazing. Maybe the first MEGADETH doesn’t sound that good, but in general, America had early great producers for metal, which Europe was lacking. But at the end of the day, now Europe has been picking up big time. We have a lot of big festivals. We have a lot of big metal festivals that you guys in America don’t have. I mean, you have some of them, but like something like Wacken [Open Air in Germany], with 100,000 metalheads [doesn’t exist in America].”Schmier previously talked about why American thrash bands were more successful than their German counterparts during a December 2019 interview with Finland’s Rauta. He stated at the time: “You have to understand the Americans are sellers — they know how to sell themselves when it comes to image, when it comes to catchy songs. I mean, look at METALLICA — they started to write catchy songs, and then they became famous… They still fill stadiums. And SLAYER, of course, they had their ‘cult’ status at one point, and then they were up on this [level] that is kind of untouchable, basically. I think the American bands, if you look at the age, they are all a little older than us. We were the little kids when the American bands were, like, two years older than us, three years older. So, they were all technically also the better players at that time, because we were just 17 and they were already 21. So, I think that is one of the reasons why the American metal was more famous. The big wave came from America; the big labels were from America. The productions were flawless at the time. The first METALLICA albums still sound great. Even the guy was a Danish guy who produced them. They did a lot of things right. And I think that made the American bands, of course, a little bit ahead of the time, ahead of the schedule. And that’s why they’re so legendary nowadays.”Last September, Schmier spoke to former THE HOURGLASS guitarist Rudi Messiah about METALLICA’s evolution from thrash metal pioneers to one of the biggest rock bands in the world with their 1991 self-titled LP, commonly known as the Black Album. He said: “I think they’ve always been the first ones doing something. I think when they created their style of thrash metal, they’ve been one of the first bands and they did it very good. They made the right decisions on producers and stuff. And also when they changed, when the big change came with the Black Album, they chose the right producer for it. And it was a very different album, but it has great songs. So, I think it’s a lot of making the right decisions and having the right producer, having the right team around you. But also, you have to write good songs. And they’ve been writing a lot of great songs. In the last years, not so much, I think. The last years of METALLICA, the last albums, they don’t really touch me so much. The last album [2023’s ’72 Seasons’] is not bad, I have to say… There’s this one song that sounds like DIAMOND HEAD, the first single [‘Lux Æterna’]. It’s actually a pretty cool song. But, yeah, I think they’re there because they were one of the first bands doing something new. And when they changed, they changed to amazing songwriting and amazing production with Bob Rock at that time. So they did they did a lot of things right, of course, at the right time. And that’s how the world works — the right timing is always most important.”DESTRUCTION’s 16th studio album, “Birth Of Malice”, was released on March 7 via Napalm Records.Schmier is joined in DESTRUCTION’s current lineup by guitarists Martin Furia and Damir Eskić, along with drummer Randy Black.”Birth Of Malice” was recorded at Switzerland’s Little Creek Studio by V.O. Pulver. Guitarist Martin Furia mixed and mastered the masterpiece at The Black Mancave in Hannover, Germany.DESTRUCTION’s massive career has seen many successes, with the band hitting stages at the world’s biggest festivals around the world like Hellfest, Wacken Open Air, Graspop Metal Meeting and México Metal Fest.DESTRUCTION, known as one of the “Teutonic Four”, alongside KREATOR, SODOM and TANKARD, were reunited with the other three acts at the “Klash Of The Ruhrpott” concert on July 20, 2024 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.In August 2021, DESTRUCTION officially parted ways with founding guitarist Michael “Mike” Sifringer and replaced him with Martin Furia. The Argentinian-born, Belgian-based Furia is best known for his work as sound engineer and producer for such bands as NERVOSA and EVIL INVADERS.Sifringer was the only member of DESTRUCTION to have remained constant throughout the band’s career. Schmier appeared on DESTRUCTION’s first three albums before exiting the band and being replaced by POLTERGEIST vocalist André Grieder. André’s sole recorded appearance with DESTRUCTION was on the “Cracked Brain” album, which came out in 1990. Schmier rejoined DESTRUCTION in 1999.Photo credit: Jennifer Gruber[embedded content]