Matt Flammable, the drummer who has anchored Cleveland, Ohio's DESTRUCTOR since the band formed in 1984, has announced his retirement. He played on every DESTRUCTOR studio album, and his last recorded performance is Tales of Glory, the band's seventh full-length, released this summer via Shadow Kingdom Records.
In his statement, Flammable explains that he is leaving both DESTRUCTOR and Vulgar Devils because of health problems. "It has been a great journey, and I could not have accomplished what I did as a drummer without my brothers in DESTRUCTOR," he says, crediting the fans for carrying the band as far as it went. He calls Tales of Glory some of his best work and says he wanted to go out on a high note: "I never expected to still be doing this at 70 years old. I've been playing drums my whole life, and the transition to my next chapter will be a difficult one."
The band responded with a tribute of its own, calling Flammable "a driving force of DESTRUCTOR since 1984" whose powerful and distinctive drumming helped shape their sound for 42 years. "We want to wish him all of the best and thank him for his exceptional talents and personality that spread through everyone over the years. We love you, Matt."
DESTRUCTOR's 1985 debut Maximum Destruction became an underground power-thrash classic, licensed in Europe through a then-young Roadrunner Records. The band's momentum was cut short when bassist Dave Holocaust was murdered on New Year's Day 1988; a major-label deal fell through and the group split in 1992. They reunited in 1999 and went on to release Sonic Bullet, Forever in Leather, the Storm of Steel EP, Back in Bondage and Decibel Casualties, before signing with Shadow Kingdom in 2022 for Blood, Bone, and Fire (2023).
Tales of Glory pushed that power-thrash toward traditional heavy metal and anthemic speed metal. Vocalist Dave Overkill described the 10-song, 39-minute record as a book of old stories rather than a strict concept album, and singled out Flammable's work on it as some of the best drum parts of his career. The band has not yet named a replacement.
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