While G.I. Joe doesn't look to be involved and a tour with Baroness isn't on the cards, The Destro do have a snake (Cobra!!!!) adorning the cover of their Ironclad debut, "As The Coil Unwinds". That's about where the 80's connection ends though as much of what The Destro unleash on this effort is entrenched in the early 90's metal scene. It is by no surprise then that this Texan outfit appropriate key elements of Pantera's 90's output in a bid to get the hell out of Metalcoreville, U.S.A.

That doesn't mean they exactly get too far though, as metalcore has already devoured and ingested nearly every other metal subgenre out there. Still, with the addition of some sludge, grindcore and polyrhythmic-based assaults, The Destro do strive to differentiate themselves. In that regard the mixture is somewhat unique, but more often than not the songs fall into repetitive ruts that don't exactly endear themselves to the listener - a problem readily exacerbated by the vocals being quite low in the mix.

Even while staunchly aggressive and staccato by nature, there are just far too many instances where metalcore-styled velocity takes its toll. There's definitely some cause for headbanging, but the only real curveball thrown here is the final track "Forever Embedded"; a nearly 10 minute monolithic 'instrumetal' groover which the group dedicate to ol' Dimebag himself. Aside from that, nothing else readily stands out as the band flex too much brawn and not enough brains - which come to think of it isn't that far off from the plans of Cobra after all.