I can’t believe finally got to see @destroy.crust DESTROY again! It had only been 36 years since the last time I had saw them at a warehouse back in Ohio when they were on tour with OI POLLOI! Their recent gig here in Oakland was with two of our local bangers @greyhound510 GREYHOUND AND @vermidax_oakland VERMIDAX. All the bands ripped extremely hard, but I will have to say that Destroy threw down one of the fastest, tightest and heaviest sets of crustgrind I will see all year. Unreal. All photos by @robcoonsphotography . And all the bands are tagged in their respective photos. (15 photos) #elismilehighclub #destroy #crustpunk #grindpunk #robandhisnikond850
As a young crust lord/slob marley, I worshipped at the altar of DESTROY. To me, them alongside Disrupt reignited my love and appreciation for Punk music after watching my friends turn into caricatures of themselves when they discovered “punk”. Destroy was brutal, deadly, grinding and absolutely pissed off Hardcore in the truest sense of the word, it’s tough as hell but not in the lame jocko hardcore way, it’s intelligent, informative and enlightening.
I ran a shop in the mall for awhile and good lord was it infuriating and exhausting, their song “Burn Down The Mall” resonated with me on a deeeep level to say the least.
Felix “Havoc” pictured here also happened to run one the sickest punk labels called Havoc Records, pretty much anyone into Punk that has a label now or did in the past couple of decades knows the importance of this man’s legacy. I’ve admired them for a long time and I truthfully never thought I was going to get the opportunity to see Destroy perform. Whenever I would get a chance to see Nate perform in his bands over the years, in Brainoil or Stormcrow, I always soaked it in thinking this is a tiny taste of Destroy. When I heard they were getting back together I almost booked trips around catching them, I was actually supposed to be in Idaho right now but I last minute cancelled my trip just so I could catch them in action in Oakland. It was everything I wanted and more, I had a huge smile on my face the entire time.
I try to give folks their space but I had to punish these two super sick vocalists just a little bit to capture this memory for my keepsake.
“Burn This Racist System Down”. I’m not sure there’s a more apt song title for this day and age, which is unfortunate considering this song was written over 3 decades ago. Politically our nations been a trash fire for as long as I can remember, maybe instead of burning all of society it’ll ignite the people to burn the racist system down instead.
Destroy! (@destroy.crust ) live at Skull Fest 15 (@skull_presents ) in Pittsburgh, PA on August 15, 2025. Full set now on YouTube. Link in bio!
#punk #crust #hardcore #minneapolis #pittsburgh
