Destruction (band)

Destruction is a German thrash metal band formed in 1982. They have been credited as one of the "Big Four" of the German thrash metal scene, the others being Kreator, Sodom and Tankard.

In addition to helping pioneer black metal, Destruction was part of the second wave of thrash metal in the mid-to-late-1980s, along with US bands Testament, Sacred Reich, Death Angel and Dark Angel. Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic stated that the band "fell under the spell of the emergent New Wave of British Heavy Metal as classic metal met the D.I.Y. ethos of punk rock, then evolved into thrash metal." Frontman Marcel "Schmier" Schirmer has expressed the personal opinion that metal music "should stay underground".

For most of the 1990s, the band was not signed to a record label and self-produced their albums until they signed a contract with Nuclear Blast in the early 2000s.

The band's early releases are considered by some to be classics within the thrash metal genre. They are also considered by some journalists to be among the greatest thrash metal bands of all time.