DESTRUCTION’s SCHMIER Names Other Metal Singers He Admires

In a new interview with the Appetite For Distortion podcast, bassist/vocalist Schmier of German thrash metal veterans DESTRUCTION was asked about the physical challenges of singing in a thrash metal band for more than four decades. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I know how to take care of my voice nowadays much better. When you were young, you didn’t give a fuck — it just came out. But actually, when I was young, I kind of lost my voice a couple of times. It was actually one American tour, [with] the CRO-MAGS, we toured like two and a half months, and once we hit upstate New York, I lost my voice. It was gone. I had to take a huge penicillin shot at the doctor. But this actually never happened to me again in the last 20 years, because I take better care.”The good thing about when you grow older with music is you learn from the mistakes, you learn from the past,” he explained. “And, yeah, I live more healthy nowadays. And for me, I have to be functional on stage, so my whole routine is about being fit for the show. So I try to eat healthy, do some sports, not dehydrate. Those things are super important. And, of course, also, you know how to control your voice better when you get older. I sing a little bit different than I used to sing — a little deeper here and there. The range is still there, but I just have more voice control. And I think that comes with the experience of — I don’t know how many live shows we played, but it must be more than a thousand something. So I think that’s the good thing about growing older with music.”Asked if there are any other singers, whether they are in the same genre or not, that he looks up to and admire in terms of how they’ve been able to perform throughout their career, Schmier said: “Yeah, there’s of course a few people like that. I mean, when I was young, I looked up to Rob Halford [of JUDAS PRIEST], and I’m a huge PRIEST fan still. And I saw them live on the last tour, and Rob is more than 72, I think, now, and he still performs fantastic for his age. So I have a lot of respect for that. Also, I used to be a big fan of Lemmy [of MOTÖRHEAD, because he was the first one with the scratchy vocals, with the extreme vocals in rock and roll, basically. In the early ’80s, the first time I heard MOTÖRHEAD, [it was] life changing. And from the thrash point of view, of course, I always loved Tom Araya’s [SLAYER] voice, because he was the first guy who did this perfect phrasing, the thrash phrasing — a lot of fast words going together into cool, yeah, phrases. I think those three guys were super important. And, of course, there’s more. But I think Rob Halford, from all of them, he kind of, for his age, he does the most outstanding job. Also, if you look at the last PRIEST, the hook lines he wrote. I think it’s a big gift if you can write good hook lines. It’s not just about singing good; it’s also about how good can you write, especially when you get older. There’s a lot of good examples for bands when they grow older, they don’t write so good anymore. The songs get a little bit more slower and more boring and more bluesy, most of them. But not Halford. He managed [on] the last two [PRIEST] albums to write so many amazing melodies and hook lines. That’s, wow.”Earlier this month, DESTRUCTION announced a new documentary “The Art Of Destruction”, to be released in German cinemas in March 2025.DESTRUCTION will release its 16th studio album, “Birth Of Malice”, on March 7, 2025 via Napalm Records.Schmier once again combines his dual vocal/bass attack with crashing riffs from dual battle axe masters Martin Furia and Damir Eskić, while Randy Black blasts his drums to new heights. The LP’s cover artwork was designed by talented Hungarian artist Gyula Havancsák, known for his works for bands like ACCEPT, KREATOR and BLIND GUARDIAN.”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.[embedded content]