THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Destroyer throws you head-first into a realm of sonic and emotional turmoil, opening a proverbial Pandora’s box of self-realisation. Says M.A.G.S., aka multi-instrumentalist Elliott Douglas: “I want my listeners to be immersed in the desolation and chaos of this world, I want them to come face to face with the ugly truth… the dark underbelly of their subconscious… all the internalized trauma and destruction. And I want them to be smiling as they face it, because they can see they are not being swallowed by their darkness but that they are, in fact, holding it in the palm of their hand.”
The immersive and expansive title track opens the album and combines the sharp edges of post-punk with melodies and chords akin to a Carole King tune. With vivid lyrical imagery, Buffalo-raised, L.A.-based M.A.G.S. sets an eerie precedent for what to expect in the upcoming journey of an album. The introspective and emotive Sins is filled with unapologetic drums, massive power chords and emo-driven riffs. Elephant explores the gritty underbelly of modern rock music from a surrealist point of view, pulling you into a kind of twisted fever dream. After navigating a plethora of emotions and genre influences in the most creative of ways throughout Destroyer, M.A.G.S. closes out the album with a final message of hope. Supermoon takes everything from the songs prior and zooms all the way out, viewing the collection as a whole from an elevated place.
M.A.G.S. says of this particular outlook, “Your home, your friends and family, all the things that have ever happened in history… all from the viewpoint of the moon. It all seems so insignificant from up here, like you could just reach out and hold it all in your hands. The destruction seems so massive when you’re walking through the aftermath if you don’t have an elevated perspective. I started therapy last year and while it was helpful for me what I really took away from it was that I’ve known the answers to all my problems the whole time. Healing has to be a choice. You can know what’s right and STILL do the wrong thing because accepting the truth requires real sacrifice.
“There has to be a level of ‘fuck it’ to everything in life, otherwise things can get really overwhelming and the darkness will swallow you. I’ve made the same mistakes over and over without ever realizing I was going in circles. I’ve burned bridges, I’ve hurt people and ran away from fires that I started… The biggest theme of this album is destroying yourself for the purpose of growth. A tree can’t grow until you prune the dead limbs, we’re the same way as humans. There’s always a light at the end of the tunnel, there’s always a way through the pain and desolation.”
It’s safe to say that Destroyer is a journey of epic proportions, both in terms of its lyrical inspirations and in terms of its musical manifestation. Strap in and enjoy the ride to an alternate realm.”
