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Cleveland's Destructor is another on a long list of bands I was aware of back in the '80s, but I never had the wherewithal to check out their debut Maximum Destruction from 1985 (not enough money, no friend with an album I could tape, etc.). Fast forward 40 years and I find myself with their 2023 album Blood, Bone, and Fire to review and frankly a little surprised to learn it is their sixth album. Clearly, I haven't been paying attention. If Maximum Destruction is the work of a young band ripping it up early Slayer style, Blood, Bone, and Fire is the work of a more focused and refined, yet no less heavy, band. The riffs here kick ass from start to finish, whether it is "Storm upon the World," or "Heroic Age" and the guitar tone is flat-out savage, benefitting from a modern production but teeming with '80s bite. I occasionally find founding vocalist/guitarist Dave Overkill's vocal lines a little clunky, but most of the time his angry growls and shouts are just what the doctor ordered to suit Destructor's sound. Speaking of Overkill, that's the band that often came to my mind while spinning Blood, Bone, and Fire and as someone that loves Feel the Fire and Taking Over, that works just fine. Destructor is proving that bands from the '80s still know how to make metal the way it is supposed to be made. Recommended.