Welcome to Napalm Flesh! This week, we have an interview with the mighty Teutonic Thrash Titans, Destruction! Even though their show in Salt Lake on May 7 was canceled, we caught up with bassist/vocalist Schmier and talked about the early years that shaped Destruction into the iconic band that they are today. And, as usual, we have a rundown of this week's metal happenings in Salt Lake and beyond.

Events compiled by Bryer Wharton
bryer@slugmag.com

Tonight, May 17, catch Koala Combat at Burt's Tiki Lounge (21+) with Burn Your World and Hypernova Holocaust. $5 gets you in the door with music underway around 9 p.m.

Also tonight, Artists for Local Agriculture (AFLA) hosts a benefit in Ogden at The Basement (all-ages) with Gaza, Loom, Cedars, Gunfight Fever and Merlins Beard. $5 gets you in the door with the music underway around 6:30 p.m.

Friday, May 18 catch Southern metal/hard rockers the Texas Hippie Coalition from well Texas at 5 Monkeys (21+) with Ravings of a Madman, Meat and Autostigmatic. Tickets, $15 are available doors open at 7 p.m.

Next Thursday, May  24, get a dose of hardcore at Burt's Tiki Lounge from North Carolina's Double Negative. Locals All Systems Fail and Chainwhip will open up the show. Tickets are $5, music starts around 10.

Interview with Schmier of Destruction

When we heard about the cancellation of Destruction's first Salt Lake City show in nearly two and a half decades, metal fans wondered what combination of bad luck and poor judgment inspired the decision. Contentious rumors began to spread about band and venue alike, but ultimately, the situation was out of their hands. Salt Lake City's metalheads have grown accustomed to being passed up on most major tours, but as Destruction's tour bus pulled away from Burt's Tiki Lounge, the small gathering of Destruction fans couldn't help but feel slighted. Before the band left town, I was able to catch up with bassist/vocalist Schmier to conduct an interview. “Say hello to the fans here. We're sorry about that shit,” says Schmier, his eyes tired from long days of touring in South America. He leans back in his chair, and we talk about the early years that shaped Destruction into the iconic band so many longed to see in Salt Lake on May 7.

The following interview is dedicated to local bands Gravetown and Visigoth, who played a kickass last-minute show in the wake of Destruction's cancellation.

SLUG: Thanks for sitting down with me, even though you guys didn't get to play tonight. It's still an honor to sit down and talk with Schmier of Destruction.
Schmier: Yeah, the last time we came to Salt Lake City was fuckin' '88, '89. It's a big bummer. We tried to promote it and do our best with what we had. Everyone was ready to do it. It sucks. I hate that [we had to cancel].

SLUG: How was the South American leg of your tour?
Schmier: It was actually pretty cool, because of those big festivals, you know? Everyone heard about the Brazilian problem so we canceled there. But we played the first day, and the audience was awesome. So it was actually a great show in Brazil. We actually did a lot of shows in South America, so it's kind of hard to tell which was best. San Diablo in Chile was awesome, they did a big open-air festival that was indoors, but there was a lot of people, like ten thousand. The mosh pit was enormous, like a two-thousand person circle pit. So there were a lot of crazy moments, and amazing shows in South America. It's always the best part of the tour. This last year we did a lot of festivals, which is pretty new to us, too. It's pretty amazing to play in front of a hundred thousand metalheads.

SLUG: I heard you played your own show in Mexico – just Destruction.
Schmier: Yeah, we wanted to play some more Mexican shows, but there were some problems with security, so everybody said, “Let's do this later.” So we played some shows in Mexico, just one before this tour. Mexico has a decent metal scene. It's been going back to old school. It wasn't always like this. At the beginning of 2000, Mexico was very much gothic and American-influenced, and now it's going back to the roots.

SLUG: What cities are you looking forward to playing on your North American tour?
Schmier: It's always good to go back to New York, which is kind of like our hometown in the states. So we're kind of looking forward to that. Canada also, we used to be in Canada a lot when I was younger. We're looking forward to Chicago, which should be a nice one. Those are always the best shows in the states. Of course, we're touring back to Hollywood, with all the satanic hispanics, and playing some thrash.