"The mad butcher have returned" well, if you think cover-wise, yes. Other than that the butcher haven't even been away for two years... So I wouldn't call it a major break. Schmier and Destruction should take a recording break if you ask me. They haven't really bashed out anything memorable in a while, and when I heard the band was releasing Spiritual Genocide, I wasn't really excited. And since the album doesn't even match the predecessor Day of Reckoning, there isn't really much to come after. It seems like the album is a cliché in it self, and the band had sat down together and just said: "All right, let's make a fucking thrashing record. Thrash, thrash, thrash". Repeat, repeat, repeat. Maybe they should have waited until late 2013 or even 2014 to release this album, as it got some pretty good riffs coming at you from time to time. So it's a really shame they kind of just repeat some stuff, and make most of the songs repeatable and what goes for the lyrics... Well: "What is the most precious thing in your life?"
Overall I don't really know what to recommend you from the album. If you got the limited edition which is the Saxon cover would be a good way to start out as you can never go wrong with some Saxon, and the cover is pretty good. 'Cyanide', 'Spiritual Genocide' and 'Legacy of the Past' can also be heard, and even though those tracks aren't anything special it is the best I have to offer. To be quite honest, I think they should just have released Princess of the Night as a single and wrote some better album material, because this doesn't quite cut it. As it was announced, Tom Angelripper from Sodom and Gerre from Tankard features on the track 'Legacy of the Past' which in it self is an okay track. But Tom and Gerre are not as present as I would like them to be, and that's a damn shame.
Gyula Havancsák from the black metal band Bornholm is the man behind the cover for Spiritual Genocide, and he has been laying down some paint for the band since 2005's Inventor of Evil. Gyula is also the man behind artwork from artists like Annihilator, Grave Digger and Tankard. Schmier also recruited him to do Headhunter's Parasite of Society album cover. And to be honest, the cover for this album ain't too shabby.
This album is probably only for die hard Destruction fans, as a big thrash enthusiast myself I think there has been released a lot better albums so far this year. Together with Kreator that makes two out of three of the Teutonic thrash bands who has disappointed with a bad release in 2012. Hopefully the next Sodom album won't leave me with an empty feeling that I just wasted my time. If you're getting this album, make sure you get the version with the Saxon cover, because that definitely gives the album a better score. But since Destruction has released better albums, even the year before, there is not really any reason to give this album a lot of attention unless as I said, you're a die hard Destruction fan, and feel like having an overdose of gang shouts.
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