Germany's DESTRUCTION To Play First Live Show Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

German thrashers DESTRUCTION will play their first concert after the coronavirus pandemic closures on July 4 at the Z7 club in Pratteln, Switzerland. Support at the gig will come from POLTERGEIST and another, as-yet-announced act.

Tickets are very limited in response to COVID-19 restrictions. Get yours here.

DESTRUCTION vocalist/bassist Schmier says: "We did not expect this to happen so soon, but, of course, it is really amazing for us to play again; we all had some tough months! We are truly honored to be invited by one of the best live venues in Europe — the Z7 is simply legendary! Great to have our brothers from POLTERGEIST on board. This will be a night to remember, that is for sure! We hope the fans are as excited as we are about this, Let's make history together!"

Schmier recently told the "Scars And Guitars" podcast that he and his bandmates were "really scared to death" after all of their shows were canceled due to the coronavirus crisis, "because we basically make our money with live shows. Nowadays, when physical sales are down and people are streaming, there's not enough money coming in from an album, so we have to play live," he said. "Luckily, the German government [has been offering] some help with small businesses. As DESTRUCTION is a company, we got emergency help. [The process has been] quick and less beauracratical than normal in Germany, because it's a very beauracratic country here — everything takes time, and a lot of applications that you have to fill out. But this was actually quite fast, like they promised everybody, and I think that really helps us at this moment now to survive… It won't be easy, but I'm actually happy to say that my government helped us at this point, and therefore Germany has done a lot of good [for smaller businesses]. They're trying to help the people — as good as they can, of course. I mean, you're paying also a lot of taxes here, so finally it's time for the government to pay it back. It's how the system should work."

Last month, DESTRUCTION delivered a treat for fans stuck at home and unable to attend live shows: "Born To Thrash - Live In Germany", the band's first live album with the current lineup, is out now digitally on all streaming and download platforms.

DESTRUCTION's latest album, "Born To Perish", was released in August 2019 via Nuclear Blast. The disc was recorded in January and February 2019 with V.O. Pulver (PRO-PAIN, BURNING WITCHES, NERVOSA) at Little Creek Studios in Switzerland and is the first DESTRUCTION album to feature Randy Black on drums and second guitarist Damir Eskic.

Damir is a Swiss guitar player of Bosnian decent who works as a guitar teacher, himself being a former pupil of Tommy Vetterli (CORONER). He also plays in a heavy metal band called GOMORRA and previously contributed three solos to DESTRUCTION's 2016 album "Under Attack".