I’ve had some difficulty writing this one. I think the only way I can really explain why I like this record is by taking a time machine back to 2011. Let’s go back to before I turned 20 years old and to the first album by Craig Owens’ project Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows (D.R.U.G.S.). In all honesty back to the early days of my writing. I was a young blogger and would spend my days looking up new bands. I would spend hours on end listening to bands, then I would check out their record label, find all of their label mates and listen to those. Hours upon hours were spent on YouTube, PureVolume, Last FM, ReverbNation, SoundCloud etc. I remember first hearing Craig Owens in the band Chiodos and being engaged with his vocals. The album Bone Palace Ballet stands out in my memory really clearly. Also, Craig's vocal work on "You Can't Spell Crap Without 'C'" by The Devil Wears Prada. As I said, I spend a lot of time looking up bands and artists within the same scene and binge listen to them over and over.
So, the sheer glee I felt when I first heard about D.R.U.G.S., I don’t think I could even describe how I felt when I first saw the news of this project. Members of From First To Last, Story Of The Year, Sleeping with Sirens and Matchbook Romance joining Craig in this venture was more than my little scene kid heart could take. Let me tell you when that first album dropped in 2011 I was so stoked and, good for me, it was very good. The first album aptly titled D.R.U.G.S. was top of my playlists for most of the year. I got to see the project live and the crowd roaring at the opening of "The Only Thing You Talk About" was one of the best crowd moments I’ve ever had the pleasure of being a part of. So yeah this band was a big part of my music fandom development. It felt like the culmination of all the music I had been listening to up to that point.
Side note: It’s because of Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows that I know what a palindrome is. Thanks to the songs "Mr Owl Ate My Metal Worm" and "Laminated E.T. Animal".
This year I think I damn near exploded when the news of a possible second album was finally here. It was later confirmed and I was elated. This time with an entirely different lineup backing Craig up. I will say the new backing lineup is pretty damn tight. Jona Weinhofen of I Killed The Prom Queen and Bring Me The Horizon, Aaron Patrick of All That Remains and Aaron Stechauner of Rings Of Saturn. Some heavy hitters right that. The new album was locked and ready to go. Titled Destroy Rebuild, I see that their album titling game is still on point. Counting down the moments to release I was very hyped. With every song they released, I wanted to hear this album more and more. Finally, the album dropped and for a while, I didn’t have much to say. However, I think I have a little say now.
This feels a lot bulkier in terms of production. Like there’s more to it. I think that’s representative of metalcore/deathcore of the day. At the end of the 2000s and early 2010s, the genre was a leaner genre made to match the iTunes generation. Thin production with lots of screaming. Yet, today’s metalcore/deathcore is a lot more bass-heavy. D.R.U.G.S. come out of the gate swinging with “Destiny”. Heavy riffs and a catchy chorus. It kind of sets the tone of what comes on the album. However, that was the lead-in single. The song was supposed to suck the listener in and get you to the album in the first place. The rest of the album is a very different kind of animal.
The album takes me back to the teenager I once was with every single track. That shy, introverted person that wasn’t too sure of the world yet. Songs like “Supercalifragilisticexistentialcrisis” really harken back to the late 2000s style of writing. I would probably define this as pop-metalcore. Taking the catchy and slick production of pop music and combining that with the heavy gritty elements of heavy metalcore. Speaking of that, I do genuinely appreciate the pure pop-punk brilliance of “Outcasts vs Everyone”, featuring the talented Brennan Savage. Genuinely anytime this song comes on now I get pretty emotional. It really hits a soft spot in my heart and takes me back to 11 years ago, to a time when I hadn’t really experienced the world yet.
When D.R.U.G.S. want to turn up the heavy on this album they absolutely can. I really appreciated songs like “Satellites In Motion” and “(Are we not drawn onward to) NEW ERA”. Taking the pedigree into consideration, you can imagine what they were able to come up with. Jona just lets the guitar rip on this record. It isn’t the prettiest of playing but man it’s really effective. While the two Aarons just lock together to make a formidable unit of drum and bass rhythm. Owens is an absolute spectacle on this album. His voice carries so well and it sounds as crystal clear as ever. The man hasn’t skipped a beat and certainly kept some great ideas for a second D.R.U.G.S. album. It genuinely feels like the band never left, even though this is a 75% completely different line-up. 
Overall this album is still a ride for me. I don’t think I could ever truly express how much their music has meant to me over the years. I thought I was going to have to settle for one D.R.U.G.S. album and, you know what? I would have been fine with that. However, now we have crossed that second album threshold, what I feel about their music has morphed somewhat. I would highly recommend that you check out both records. The first one for that initial adrenaline rush and the second for the after party. As for me, I think this album will do a few rotations for the rest of the year leading up to my end-of-year blog.
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