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One of Germany's original thrash metal outfits, Kreator proved to have more longevity in them than most of their American counterparts. Fast, brutal, aggressive thrash (often compared to Slayer and Annihilator) immediately won numerous fans. The glory days line-up of "Extreme Aggression" (1989) and "Coma Of Souls" (1990) consisted of Miland "Mille" Petrozza (vocals, guitar), Rob Fioretti (bass), Frank Gosdzik (guitar) and Ventor (drums). As metal fell on hard times, Petrozza started experimenting with different musical directions, such as doom, industrial, and goth. Late 90s lineup included Petrozza, Jurgen Reil (drums), Christian Gissler (bass), and Tomy Vetterli (guitar). The pinnacle of experimentation was reached on much-praised and much-maligned "Endorama" (1999). However, soon after the band returned to their old sound and style with "Violent Revolution" (2001) and continued in that vein with "Enemy Of God" (2005). Presently, the lineup features Petrozza, Giesler, Ventor (guitar), and Samy Yli Sirnio (drums).
COMA OF SOULS (1990)
RATING: ****
BEST SONGS: "When The Sun Burns Red," "World Beyond," "Hidden Dictator"
Solid thrash from Germany. I'm sorry I traded that CD away, but it was a 2 for 1 good deal, and I made a promise. I did burn it though. It's fast, furious, and Mille Petrozza's... *ahem*... "singing" can irritate the hell out of every "normal" person. He sounds like Randy Rampage of Annihilator on amphethamines. Just the way we love it. This album's got a fistful of great thrash tracks, from opening "When The Sun Burns Red" and for the duration of the album: krrrunchy "Terror Zone," "Material World Paranoia" (great title), "People Of The Lie," title track, "Hidden Dictator," etc. Good stuff, what's a German word for "thrash"?
ENDORAMA (1999)
BEST SONGS: "Chosen Few," "Willing Spirit," "Tyranny"
Wow, they changed quite a bit. This album sounds like a combination of Rage and faster Tiamat, with a light touch of Sentenced. The songs acquired a strong gothic feeling, in vein of Tiamat's "Brighter Than The Sun": sharp and precise mid-tempo riffing, occasional keys, "dark atmospheric" vocals, and a very steady beat. Opens strongly with "Golden Age," then continues with the title track. "Shadowland" I don't like: Mille Petrozza recalls his thrash days and this type of singing doesn't fit the music at all. "Chosen Few" is terrific in its manic depressiveness, and so is "Everlasting Flame." "Passage To Babylon" sounds A LOT like "Brighter Than The Sun," a definitely highlight of this highlight-filled disk. The ending of this album is also very strong, with both "Pandemonium" and "Tyranny" being great rocking tunes. An awesome album. 1999 was a great year for non-power metal genres. This is one of the great albums from that year.
VOICES OF TRANSGRESSION (2000)
RATING: ***1/2
BEST SONGS: “Lucretia My Reflection,” “The Chosen Few,” “Inferno”
A compilation of material from Kreator’s four albums from the 90s: Renewal (1992), Cause For Conflict (1995), Outcast (1997), and Endorama (1999), plus four unreleased songs. After abandoning its unabashed thrash of the 80s, in the 90s Kreator tried hard to combine the uncombinable: thrash and doom. If one is to judge all of these albums from the tracks that represent them, a neat picture can be drawn. First, the uncetain and flaccid doom of Renewal (represented by only one title song). Second, clearly more thrashy Cause For Conflict (which, while still showing some slow, Seasons In The Abyss-type, moments in “Isolation,” still returns to the roots with “Lost,” “Hate Inside Your Head,” and, most of all, with blast beats in “Bomb Threat”). Then, Kreator abandons speed completely and out comes Outcast, with its total darkness and doom (“Leave This World Behind,” “Whatever It May Take,” “Outcast,” “Black Sunrise”), but already showing the gothic rhythmic backbone (“Phobia”), which eventually crystallized into the gothic rhythm perfection of Endorama. Unfortunately, the latter is not represented by its best tracks; sans, of course, the brilliant “Chosen Few.” Overall, this compilation is mostly sludgy doom, with an occasional burst of speed or a goth beat. In the late 90s, Kreator was one of several extreme bands that publicly pronounced their love for The Sisters Of Mercy, and an excellent cover of “Lucretia My Reflection” (as well as the entire Endorama album) is a proof of that. A hidden gem is the previously unreleased “Inferno,” a track fully in the Endorama vein. But, all loquaciousness aside, the majority of the songs are average; solid, not great. Excellent songs on this album (“Lucretia,” “Chosen Few,” “Bomb Threat,” “Phobia,” “Inferno”) are diluted by the mediocre. Bottomline: it does not matter to me which style you play, as long as you play it well. Both Endorama and the subsequent Violent Revolution could not be any more different, yet both are terrific albums. Which does not seem to be the case with most of Kreator’s other 90s stuff.
VIOLENT REVOLUTION (2001)
RATING: ****1/2
BEST SONGS: title track, "Second Awakening," "Mind On Fire"
The best traditional thrash outting of 2001. In the time when almost nobody dares playing classic thrash, Petrozza & Co. made a full circle return to their roots, only with the appropriate maturity as well as occasional hints of their short fascination with goth. What makes this album great is the quality of the material, with raspy sound, aggressive riffing (not quite as chaotic as on classic thrash albums, but far from the sharpness and precision of the goth-era albums), and numerous hooks in both the music and the vocal lines. Virtually every song has a memorable moment, mostly due to the effectiveness of the rhymes in pre-choruses and choruses: title track, "Servant In Heaven - King In Hell," "Second Awakening," "Ghetto War," "Replicas Of Life," "Slave Machinery," "Bitter Sweet Revenge," and my personal favorite "Mind On Fire" are all excellent. The leads are back, although they are still short and not exactly dominating, but Kreator was never about the guitar wankery. Petrozza is back to his trademark screaming, and his raspy voice is definitely an acquired taste (a hit-or-miss, to be more precise). If you're looking for the catchy new age thrash, this is definitely the place to go. I do admit that I like Endorama slightly more, but I'm sure many thrash fans are happy to see the band go back to what made them famous.
ENEMY OF GOD (2005)
RATING: ****
BEST SONGS: "Impossible Brutality," "Suicide Terrorist," "Voices Of The Dead"
First and foremost, I must say that the "Producer of the Year" title goes undisputedly to Andy Sneap. Delivering two completely different albums from completely different acts (Kreator and Masterplan), he managed to extract perfect sound out of both. This is as crisp sounding thrash album as there has ever been, without sounding Windex-ed. Roaring guitars and knockout beats epitomize this genre to the full, without sounding overly derivative or Slayer-copying that Annihilator was guilty of on their albums with Comeau. And let’s not forget the throat of Mille Petrozza: it is beyond me how he growls and barks like this for 20 years and counting. The first half of the album has some very strong material, easily as strong as "Violent Revolution," which was definitely the best thrash album of the new millennium in my opinion. Blast of a title track, marching "Impossible Brutality," neck-snapping "Suicide Terrorist," and building "Voices Of The Dead" are simply perfect thrash pieces, where riffs crush, but the melody is not abandoned either (especially in "Voices"). The songs in the second half of the album are slightly weaker, but still great when you are actually listening to them, especially "One Evil Comes — A Million Follow" and "Dying Race Apocalypse." The music has less versatility than Violent Revolution, and I would advise Petrozza to start changing the lyrics a little: all these "deaths," "pains," "world miseries," and "apocalypses" are already quite lame and will only get worse. Speaking of which, "Murder Fantasies" (featuring Michael Arnott of Arch Enemy on lead guitar) is an assault on my sense of decency. I realize that Mille is unlikely to kill and torture anybody, but far worse and far more unlikely things have happened (with musicians as well as everybody else), and this is a disturbing thought. Does Kreator really want to disturb their fans? Because, naturally, only their fans listen to them. The roots of it may be found in thrash’s history (Slayer and all), as well as Mille’s probably disturbed childhood, but it is not making me feel any easier, and I do not like Eminem either. Overall, this is a very good thrash album and as such will probably be the winner in its category. Of course, I do not think Kreator was doing too poorly with their goth direction, but chances for them going back to it are only slightly more realistic than those of The Beatles reuniting. The cd also contains a video for "Impossible Brutality," which isn't bad, but not very interesting or unique (I was expecting something along the lines of Megadeth, but instead it shows a billiard bar). Oh, well.
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