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Destroyer Destroyer: Littered With Arrows
 Ontario's brave Goodfellow records signed Oklahoma City, OK. natives Destroyer Destroyer to a three album deal and Littered With Arrows is the first of the trilogy. In trying to define this recording some labels do come to mind such as: College-Core, Alterna-Core or maybe even Grunge-Core. Why, you might ask? Because this music is: convoluted, confused and generally non-descript. I can already hear people trying to pass this off as jazz, but let me put the stops to that right now. "Good" Jazz is indicative of superior-performance based compositions that can redefine boundaries based on harmonic metaphors. In progressive jazz that can mean trying to bring elements found outside the regular tonal spectrum into focus. In other words, it has a musical purpose. The refuse found on this recording relies on riddled together guesswork that has no meaning or purpose. As you can tell, I really don't buy the whole declaration of alienation mantra. I might go as far as to say, "It sounded better when it was called Obscura!" This is not an officially declared influence, but I completely believe it's where the idea for these kinds of recordings originated.
The 12 songs found here are finished in a scant 29 minutes. I had to really watch the CD counter because I could not tell where one song ended and the other began! The short length is the most redeeming quality because too much more of this noise-philosophy and you would have to turn it off. When I listen to music I am paying for something to "inspire" NOT "tire" and this just keeps picking away at your energy supply.*Christ, I'm not even that damn old!* I mean, are you going to willingly pay to do all the work in this one-sided affair? To wrap it up, the singing is comparable to a live human neutering and the guitars are a sludgy waste of a good 7 string. In short, just imagine… no structure, no discernable virtuosic quality (forget any solos), and everything sounds as being an out of tune mess. For you, is it? If it is…Your heaven is my hell!
"Strictly reserved for confused college students working in musty bookstores."
Track listing
1. Trial
2. A Golden Technique
3. Horse Drawn
4. Littered With Arrows
5. Off The Beaten Path
6. We've Been Had
7. Daddy Long Legs
8. Dead Weight
9. Schools Named
10. Number Cruncher
11. The Feeling is Mutual
12. Error
Added: July 2nd 2007
Reviewer: Hugh Dark
Score: 
Related Link: Band's My Space Page
Hits: 3045
Language: english
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Destroyer Destroyer: Littered With Arrows
Posted by Anthony Lavoie on 2009-07-27 17:43:31
My Score:
Im really surprised as to how SoT scored this album! Considering they gave Gaza's "I Dont Care Where I Go When I Die" a good score, I figured this would be right up their ally. Sure, "Littered With Arrows" is the easiest and most accessible album to listen to, but extreme metal isnt supposed to be that way anyway. I found this album to be a great example of what musical texture can do for the atmosphere of a song. The chording and harmonic structures explored in these songs are some of the most extreme examples of "ugly" and beautiful Ive found. The ending of the album closer "Error" is one of the most scathing and heart crushing riffs Ive ever heard. In contrast "Off the Beaten Path" is one of the most beautiful songs ever written in extreme music. I think the one star rating is a bit harsh. Anyone interested in musical extremes in one form or another should at least give the album a listen and decide whether this is truly untalented wankery or something beautiful reserved for those strong and patient enough to get past its ugly surface.
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Destroyer Destroyer: Littered With Arrows
Posted by Anonymous on 2008-11-13 09:13:11
My Score:
I guess I have a totally different take on this album than the SoT reviewer's:
This is a HIGHLY energetic band, whose compositions are astoundingly complex. But they differ from say, PsyOpus, in that instead of being offered in a heady, learned way, these guys crunch away at the brain relentlessly with a down-and-dirty flavor. Rhythms are constantly shifting throughout, slithering around in the listener's cortex like eels, daring one to hold on for dear life whilst trying to keep up with them. Special kudos go to bassist Dallas Niles, as his Goliath presence acts like an anchor, holding the band's completely bizarre framework in place: often the drums are semi free-form, entering and exiting the patterns precisely and at will, as the guitars offer filigrees and unexpected attacks within the measures and counts. And the screeching vocals are amongst the most successful and un-nerving ever in this school of music. Three songs from this disk are remakes from their debut (which is difficult to find now, but also excellent); However, the versions here sound more immediate, brutal and confounding. Along with old hands Crowpath and relative newcomers Gaza, Destroyer Destroyer are at the vanguard of Metal's new, mind-f#*ck approach, but they are more complex than the former, and even more intense than the latter. Personally, I expect this will be the best Metal release of 2007.
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