Nekrowitch

Vintage fantasy and horror

Circa 1932, Island of Lost Souls

This was something I struggled with when I first got into extreme music. however, thanks to internet and social media, this process is much easier now than it probably was in the 80s and 90s. here I compiled a list of my favorite sites to buy band merch.

♠️ Hell's Headbangers: Metal Merchants based on Ohio. these guys have a huge selection of shirts, hoodies, vinyl, cds, tapes, and patches. whatever band you're looking for they most certainly have in stock.

♠️ Shadow Kingdom Records: Record label that specializes In speed, thrash, power, and heavy metal, though you will certainly find more extreme music here as well. their online store has plenty of cassettes, t shirts, and even magazines.

♠️ NWN: if yo'ure looking for the most extreme bands, Nuclear War Now! is the place to go. they Pretty much have everything you need for your favorite black, death, black death, and death thrash bands. they also have a physical store in Texas, and a yearly fest that's typically hosted overseas.

♠️Armed with Hammers: My go to for official patches, pins, and buttons. They ship from Israel, so Beware shipping costs!

♠️ T -shirt Slayer: Online network of maniacs worldwide. the site is pretty dated, but the community is still thriving. they have a whole section dedicated to selling and trading merch, or you can use the search bar if you're looking for something specific.

♠️ The band's themselves; this one is pretty straightforward. if you like a band that is still independent, then it's best to buy from them directly. in this day And age alot of bands have a bandcamp setup, or at least a social media presence. if they don't carry stuff online, then catch them live to see what merch they have available.

Destruction is a thrash metal band hailing from Germany.

Formed in 1982, the band featured Ulf Kühne on vocals, Mike Sifringer on guitar,  Marcel "Schmier" on bass,  and Tommy Sandmann on drums.

The band was originally formed as "Knight of Demon " and took inspiration from notable musical groups like Iron Maiden, Venom, and Mercyful Fate.

Kühne would not last long as vocalist, and was kicked out the band due to a conflict with Sifringer.

Sifringer would then take on vocals, before officially changing the name of the band to Destruction.

In 1984, the band released their first demo, titled "Bestial Invasion of Hell." Shortly after this release, Destruction would sign on with Steamhammer Records. They would release their first EP, "Sentence of Death" in November of the same year.

In 1985, Destruction would release their first full length album, "Infernal Overkill." In 1986, they followed up with another release, "Eternal Devastation At this time, a second guitarist named Harry Wilkens was recruited. They would also replace Tommy Sandmann with Oliver Kaiser.

With the updated lineup, the group would go on to produce their second EP, Mad Butcher in 1987, along with their third full length, Release from Agony.

Destruction was wildly popular among the underground, and toured aggressively all over Europe and North America. They shared the stage with other well known groups such as Death Angel, Exodus, Testament, Slayer, and Iron Angel.

In 1989, the band released their first live album, "Live without Sense." This year would also be the year that Schmier was fired from the band, and replaced by Andre Grieder of Poltergeist for 1990's Cracked Brain album. This was the only album in which he appeared.

Mike Sifringer continued to release more material under the moniker of "Neo Destruction." Together with  vocalist Thomas Rosenmerkel, second guitarist Michael Piranio, bassist Christian Engler and continuing drummer Oliver Kaiser, the new Destruction would release 2 EPs and 1 Album into the world.

This lineup lasted until 1999, when Schmier rejoined new drummer Sven Vormann, and reformed Destruction as a trio once again.

Throughout the 2000s, Destruction would see several lineup changes, live performances, and many DVD/album releases.

They are still very active in the metal scene to this day, and have had several new releases in the past few years.

Today, they are considered one of the most influential German Thrash metal bands, alongside Sodom and Kreator.

Sacrifizer is an underground speed metal band from France.

The band formed in 2017, consisting of vocalist "Sexumer," guitarists "Night Reaper" and "Steelgrinder, " "Slaughterwytch" on bass, and "Lethal" on drums.

In 2018, the band released their first demo, titled "Night of the Razors," and followed up shortly with their first EP.

By 2019, the band released their first EP titled "La Mort Triomphante," (The Triumph of Death) and gained a considerable amount of attention, having been featured in underground zines, blogs, and interviews. Slaughterwytch also officially joined the band at this point.

The band played several live shows throughout France, however The 2020 Coronavirus pandemic caused a short pause in their stage appearances.

By 2021, the band was allowed to resume their in person assaults, and was scheduled to play a show in France with Butcher and Hexecutor. However the band had to drop from the lineup and was replaced by Morbid Scepter. (This was possibly due to another opportunity that allowed Sacrifizer to open up for German thrash Legends Destruction the night before. )

The band is still active, and is anticipating the release of their first full length album sometime in late April. They are scheduled to appear at the Anthems of Steel fest in May.

Listen to La Mort Triomphante in full: