DESTRUCTION Frontman Says Internet 'Keyboard Warriors' Are 'A Bit Ridiculous'

Metal Wani's Carla Morton conducted an interview with DESTRUCTION vocalist/bassist Schmier prior to the band's January 31 show at Fabrica in Bucharest, Romania. You can listen to the full chat below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On how crowds have been responding to the band's 2016 "Under Attack" album:

Schmier: "New songs will always take a little time to get into the setlist, but we usually play three to four off the new album. The reaction has been good; it's good live material, I think. The new album has songs that are working really well live. The reactions are great every night."

On why DESTRUCTION changed studios several times for the recording of "Under Attack":

Schmier: "Sometimes you have to see what the circumstances are. We have several studios that we like, and sometimes you have to see what's booked out or which room is best for the drums. We recorded in one studio, the drums, and one other studio, the rest. It was a collaboration."

On the band's writing process:

Schmier: "You need a little time and you cannot write every year. That's what we did back in the day that we'd write a new album every year. Nowadays, that's more difficult. We now take our time when we write and there still good ideas coming out, so it works pretty well, still. We're just taking a little bit more time nowadays. There's no more rush to release an album a year or every two years."

On the band's "Second To None" song from "Under Attack":

Schmier: "[It's about] the keyboard warriors, the trolls. People have a lot of frustration that are on the Internet and that can have a voice. When you're in the business for so long, you see a lot. It's sad to see in the metal scene. Metal is about standing together; we're outsiders of society anyway. Our music is a very special thing. I don't like to see this tendency to see people bashing each other on the boards. It's a modern media thing and 'Second To None' is a song about it. Of course, it's a provocation for us as people, so we wrote the song about it. It's been interesting to see the reactions. I wonder what kind of poor lives those people have that they have to bash other people. We grew up back in the day where it wasn't possible, so it's a strange development of the Internet. I like the Internet. It's a great, fast way for us to reach fans, in general, it's a great thing, but those keyboard warriors, those frustrated people are a little bit ridiculous, that's why we made a song about it."

On whether DESTRUCTION has started to write new material:

Schmier: "We're actually working on a best-of album at the moment. It's a re-recording called 'Thrash Anthems Vol. 2'. That will be the next project that comes out. The new album will be, who knows, 2018 maybe or something. It's going to take a while. The next project will definitely best-of re-recorded classics."

On adding HAMMERFALL guitarist Pontus Norgren to his side band, PANZER:

Schmier: "Pontus is a great old friend. I met him even before he played in HAMMERFALL. Stefan [Schwarzmann], the drummer, is a good friend of his for years. He brought in the name and he's a fantastic solo guitar player and a great guy. He was very interested to join PANZER so we made an instantaneous decision to bring him into the band. We did the first song together. It sounded great. He's a very professional guy and a nice person. There's a very good vibe in the band, which is important."

On when PANZER will release a new studio album:

Schmier: "This year for sure. Maybe around summertime, hopefully."

On his "dream" thrash metal tour:

Schmier: "It's very difficult. Maybe KREATOR, SODOM and TANKARD. [Laughs] That's what everybody is waiting for. That would be the 'German Big Four' thing that everybody wants. I think we have to do it one day, hopefully. [KREATOR leader] Mille [Petrozza] was talking about it lately and we're ready. We said 'Yes, we're ready to do it.' It's KREATOR's call. They are the biggest of us all at the moment. If they want to do it, then I'm sure we can get a package together. Hopefully it will happen next year. It's going to be nice to tour together because we're old friends. It's going to be also good venues, big places, good production, so it's going to be great for the fans. Hopefully soon."

DESTRUCTION recently announced the "North America Under Attack" tour. The trek will begin in Oakland, California on May 22 and hit nineteen cities, including Chicago, New York, and Atlanta, before concluding in Los Angeles at the Regent Theater on June 11. Direct support will come from Los Angeles thrash metallers WARBRINGER and Wisconsin death metallers JUNGLE ROT.