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Destroy the Machines
Studio album by Earth Crisis
Released	May 25, 1995 (1995-05-25)
Recorded	October–November 1994
Genre	Metalcore
Length	34:10
Label	Victory
Earth Crisis chronology
Firestorm (1993) Destroy the Machines (1995) Gomorrah's Season Ends (1996)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic

Destroy the Machines is the debut studio album by American metalcore band Earth Crisis, it was released in 1995. It is widely considered a landmark release in metalcore.

Music and lyrics

Earth Crisis recorded Destroy the Machines in the studio of progressive thrash metal band Believer in Pennsylvania, being introduced to them by friend Jim Winters of Conviction, who also toured with Earth Crisis. Guitarist Scott Crouse, who admired Believer, was inspired by them to practice arduously and improve his technique. On the album, the band determined to make the songs sound like "somebody continuously hitting something with a hammer", picturing every song as "pounding, pounding, pounding." MetalSucks described Destroy the Machines as a "hardcore take on the Pantera/Exhorder/Prong school of late 80s-early 90s power groove thrash".

Commenting on the lyrics, Allmusic stated that " burn with resentment directed at those who (in the estimation of vocalist Karl Buechner) bring contamination and death to the earth and the defenseless creatures that reside on it." The overall theme is an approaching ecological apocalypse, the destruction of defenseless creatures, self-destruction, and a means of liberation which is proposed as being veganism and straight edge. By the time of the tour in 1995, Buechner was personally taking care of twelve rescued animals from Syracuse Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, where he volunteered.

Legacy

In April 2018, NME named Destroy the Machines one of the fifteen best hardcore punk albums of all time. Kerrang! placed it among "The 21 Best U.S. Metalcore Albums of All Time." In 2017, Loudwire ranked Destroy the Machines 7th on its list of the best metalcore albums of all time. Dan Gump of Life Sentence Records named it the most representative album of the 1990s.

The Duch band Born from Pain and the Argentinian band Nueva Ética ("New Ethic" in Spanish) are named after songs from the album. In March 2015, celebrating the release of The Discipline EP which re-released songs from Destroy the Machines, several musicians and animal right activists paid tribute to it, including Davey Havok of AFI, Andy Hurley of Fall Out Boy, Peter Daniel Young and Toby Morse of H₂O.

The song "Forced March" was covered by Between the Buried and Me on their 2006 album The Anatomy Of. "Born from Pain" was covered by Eighteen Visions on their covers album 1996 (2021). "The Wrath of Sanity" was covered by First Blood on their 2012 album FBI Vol. 1. "The Wrath of Sanity" is quoted in the songs "No Contest" (2005) by Gather and "Rules of Conviction" (2017) by First Blood and Jesse Barnett, the latter of which was dedicated to Earth Crisis and Path of Resistance. Maroon quotes Destroy the Machines in their 2006 song "24HourHate".

An increase of animal rights activism corresponded with the rise of vegan straight edge bands during the 1990s, a phenomenon which activist Peter Daniel Young attributes largely to Destroy the Machines.

Track listing

All songs written by Karl Buechner.

Credits

• Karl Buechner - vocals
• Scott Crouse - lead guitar
• Ian Edwards - bass
• Dennis Merrick - drums
• Kris Wiechmann - rhythm guitar

References

1. ^ Jeffries, Vincent. "Earth Crisis | Destroy the Machines". AllMusic. Archived from the original on June 14, 2012. Retrieved May 19, 2012.
2. Gabriel Cardenas Salas, "Blasts from the Past", Terrorizer 180, February 2009, p. 96.
3. Trudell, Danny (September 6, 2019). "2: SCOTT CROUSE / EARTH CRISIS INTERVIEW: PART TWO". Listennotes (Podcast). Holy Mountain Printing. Event occurs at 14:24-29:43. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
4. Sergeant D (September 8, 2010). "ALBUM OF THE DAY: EARTH CRISES, DESTROY THE MACHINES [VIA BELIEVER]". MetalSucks. Archived from the original on September 11, 2010. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
5. Granholm, Kennet (May 2012). "3 - Metal, The End of the World, and Radical Environmentalism: Ecological Apocalypse in the Lyrics of Earth Crisis". In Partridge, Christopher (ed.). Anthems of Apocalypse: Popular Music and Apocalyptic Thought. Sheffield Phoenix Press. pp. 27–44. doi:10.4000/volume.3350. ISBN 9781907534348.
6. "An Interview with Earth Crisis by Devon Morf, Kate Short & Rob Coons". Reno, Nevada: WAJ. October 1, 2013. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
7. Connick, Tom (April 12, 2018). "Get in the pit: the best hardcore albums of all time". NME. Archived from the original on April 15, 2018. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
8. Young, Simon (March 23, 2018). "The 21 Best U.S. Metalcore Albums Of All Time". Kerrang!. Archived from the original on March 23, 2018. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
9. Hill, John (June 28, 2017). "25 Best Metalcore Albums of All Time". Loudwire. Archived from the original on June 28, 2017. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
10. Ramirez, Carlos (January 24, 2018). "Dan Gump (Excessive Force, Life Sentence Records)". Noecho.net. Archived from the original on January 29, 2018. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
11. "interview with Born From Pain". April 4, 2015. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
12. "Straight edge: the discipline" (PDF). Matters of Substance. NZ Drug Foundation. May 2015. p. 29. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
13. ^ "Earth Crisis "Soundtrack For Action"". Bullettooth.com (video). March 31, 2015. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
14. Apar, Corey. "Between the Buried and Me | The Anatomy Of". AllMusic. Archived from the original on June 3, 2012. Retrieved May 19, 2012.
15. "EIGHTEEN VISIONS Release New Covers Album ft. Five Hardcore Tracks and Five Rock Tracks". lambgoat.com. Retrieved 2024-05-31.
16. Edwards, Tim. "FIRST BLOOD – "FBI VOL 1" RELEASED 2012". Ineffecthardcore.com. Archived from the original on March 26, 2013. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
17. "Gather". Whisperedliesofangels.blogspot.com (published March 30, 2014). 30 March 2014. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
18. Kaminski, Karol (14 June 2017). "Hardcore power pack FIRST BLOOD release new video for their new song "Rules Of Conviction" (feat. Jesse Barnett of STICK TO YOUR GUNS); gearing up for European Summer trek!". Idioteq.com (published June 14, 2017). Retrieved May 25, 2020.
19. Peter, Thomas (29 January 2008). "Rock Harz bestätigt Neaera, Maroon, One Bullet Left, Lacrimas Profundere und Ohrenfeindt". Festivalisten.de (in German) (published January 29, 2008). Archived from the original on December 9, 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
20. Pieslak, Jonathan (March 2014). "The Music Cultures of Radical Environmental and Animal-Rights Activism". Exit Deutschland (Music and Radicalism ed.): 52. ISSN 2196-8136. Retrieved May 25, 2020.

• Earth Crisis albums
• 1995 debut albums
• Victory Records albums