Devastation~ Idolatry

Completely missed this band back in the day, lyrics come across with Christian themes like bands like Opprobrium and Sword Of Judgment I guess.... any fans of Devastation from the early 90's?

https://youtu.be/O3xgNWH4Owk

Big fan here, especially of Idolatry.  I always considered it one of the last great thrash albums before the style fell almost entirely out of favor.  Their vocalist professes personal faith in Jesus and it does come across in some of the lyrics, for sure.  Hard to believe that it was the same band that created such a terribly boring debut only a few years prior!

Wow thats freaking epic!

Im going to have to pick some of this up how many releases did these guys have?

Can someone give me the run down on their history

Great band. Right up there with Sadus ( but I liked Sadus a bit more ) as far Thrash bands go.

I've heard stuff about the " Christian " content in their songs, but never really looked lyrics.

For anyone interested...heres some their lyrics.

http://www.darklyrics.com/lyrics/devastation/idolatry.html

....early demos.

I have all their LPs and even an original shirt. Killer band! Idolatry is definitely one of the most aggressive thrash metal albums from the 80s/90s!

Tobi Elektrik wrote: Idolatry is definitely one of the most aggressive thrash metal albums from the 80s/90s!

...now...don't forget Sadus

Good band but I definitely agree that SADUS is much better!

SADUS make most thrash bands sound like Disney music.

Looking forward to hearing ELIMINATE featuring an ex-DEVASTATION guitarist.

xMetalMarkx wrote:Big fan here, especially of Idolatry.  I always considered it one of the last great thrash albums before the style fell almost entirely out of favor.  Their vocalist professes personal faith in Jesus and it does come across in some of the lyrics, for sure.  Hard to believe that it was the same band that created such a terribly boring debut only a few years prior!

I am late by about 6 years, but I was looking up whether this band was Christian and found this forum... and I would like to know if anybody has a source on the beliefs of the vocalist? Seems a bit hard to find such a claim by the vocalist of a pretty obscure band.

I like that album. I have the reissue!

Jesus is my Best Friend wrote:

xMetalMarkx wrote:Big fan here, especially of Idolatry.  I always considered it one of the last great thrash albums before the style fell almost entirely out of favor.  Their vocalist professes personal faith in Jesus and it does come across in some of the lyrics, for sure.  Hard to believe that it was the same band that created such a terribly boring debut only a few years prior!

I am late by about 6 years, but I was looking up whether this band was Christian and found this forum... and I would like to know if anybody has a source on the beliefs of the vocalist? Seems a bit hard to find such a claim by the vocalist of a pretty obscure band.

I interviewed Rodney in March of 1990 when Devastation was opening for Death in support of Signs of Life.  During the interview he discussed how he felt the importance of not putting out Satanic/garbage lyrics because music affects people, and he said, "I'm a Christian.  I'm not totally diehard religious, pushing it on people, but that's how I am."  He's on Facebook.  Current profile picture is him sporting a Sadus Swallowed in Black shirt.  Nice.

I interviewed Rodney in March of 1990 when Devastation was opening for Death in support of Signs of Life.  During the interview he discussed how he felt the importance of not putting out Satanic/garbage lyrics because music affects people, and he said, "I'm a Christian.  I'm not totally diehard religious, pushing it on people, but that's how I am."  He's on Facebook.  Current profile picture is him sporting a Sadus Swallowed in Black shirt.  Nice.

Wowie, was it recorded anywhere? Because thats pretty sick... I had made sone assumptions they might be Christian based on their lyrics on idolatry, then again, its called "idolatry" so the christianity is not too explicit... kind of like a hirax situation where they have pretty anti-satan/christian lyrical content but you dont know if its because theyre faithful or just a cool subject to make a song about. Thanks for clearing it up tho. Does he have Christian stuff on his FB? I dont have an acc but itd be cool to know if hes still faithful.

Jesus is my Best Friend wrote:

I interviewed Rodney in March of 1990 when Devastation was opening for Death in support of Signs of Life.  During the interview he discussed how he felt the importance of not putting out Satanic/garbage lyrics because music affects people, and he said, "I'm a Christian.  I'm not totally diehard religious, pushing it on people, but that's how I am."  He's on Facebook.  Current profile picture is him sporting a Sadus Swallowed in Black shirt.  Nice.

Wowie, was it recorded anywhere? Because thats pretty sick... I had made sone assumptions they might be Christian based on their lyrics on idolatry, then again, its called "idolatry" so the christianity is not too explicit... kind of like a hirax situation where they have pretty anti-satan/christian lyrical content but you dont know if its because theyre faithful or just a cool subject to make a song about. Thanks for clearing it up tho. Does he have Christian stuff on his FB? I dont have an acc but itd be cool to know if hes still faithful.

I consulted my recording of the interview to get his wording noted correctly.  I haven't spent any time scouring his FB page for content one way or another...you might get yourself a FB account and connect with him directly?  I'm sure he's approachable there for any minutiae re. Devastation, anyway.

Hardcore Christian wrote:Wow thats freaking epic!

Im going to have to pick some of this up how many releases did these guys have?

Can someone give me the run down on their history?

Sorry I somehow didn't notice this post?  You've probably since done some homework.  https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Devastation/1502  They released 3 proper albums.  I wouldn't waste your time with their debut, Violent Termination, which is pretty bad.  Signs of Life and Idolatry were both far, far better IMHO, with the former being an enjoyable pedal-to-the-metal thrasher and the latter featuring somewhat more varied compositions and boasting a 96% average rating across 8 reviews at the Metal Archives.