Metal Overview: Kreator (Part 3)

Hey fellow Otaku & Metalheads, and welcome to the final part of my look at Kreator!

Last time, we ended on their Gothic & Industrial oddball Endorama. An album that doesn’t necessarily sound or feel like anything they’ve done before in the 90s, but isn’t a bad little record at the same time. However, it put the band in a really odd spot, but don’t count your chickens before they hatch everybody, and things would transform once again. Let’s being part 3 of my look at Kreator, and see if anything changed.

Violent Revolution (2001)

As the 2000s dawned Kreator seemed to still be riding the Gothic & Industrial train. The first & only bit of evidence was their compilation album Voices of Transgression (Review here), but by 2001 the return to Thrash was seemingly immediate, and Violent Revolution was that return. Released on September 25, 2001, Kreator’s first release of the new millennium harkens back to the band’s time in the 80s when the band first became Thrash, and it shows. Gone (For the most part) is the experimentation (For the most part no. 2) of the 90s, and instead fans got a massive return to the band’s roots. This return shows in every aspect of the album. From the production value to the instrumentation & everything else, Violent Revolution is a statement, and it’s message is simple. We’re back!

Best Track? Replicas Of Life is a shockingly deceptive song. It starts with a minute-long buildup, accompanied with softer vocals & guitarwork, then immediately drops into a barrage of Thrash laden guitars & drums, with Millie going back to his patented howl that almost all fans know of. This assault goes on for a few more minutes, then returns to a heavier version of the beginning of the track. The beginning & end of Replicas Of Life almost sound like something you’d find off of Endorama, which is pleasantly surprising to me. Easily the best tune on the album!

Replicas Of Life

Worst Track? While a return to Thrash Metal, Violent Revolution still can’t seem to shake off their 90s experimentation. Maybe not with the styles used, but certain beats & rhythms echo that period of the band for me. Even the vibes of a song or two came across as 90s while I listened to this album. It’s ironic that I say this, as the band experimented with some bits of Melodic Death Metal, and that style has absolutely nothing to do with Gothic or Industrial Metal that Kreator worked with 2 decades ago.

Violent Revolution. Definitely a return to the world of Thrash, yet still shaking off their 90s cocoon. If you wanted Kreator to come back to the fold, then this might be what you’re looking for. Next album!

Enemy Of God (2005)

Violent Revolution, as awesome as it was, still had a bit of the 90s attached to it. While the record was indeed an exceedingly obvious return to Thrash Metal, the band were still doing a little bit of experimentation with their music. However, 4 years after Kreator’s first release, we got a full-blown Thrash Metal beast by the name....of Enemy Of God. Released on the 10th of January, 2005, Enemy Of God marks the first fully Thrash Metal release since 1990, and it shows. Gone is the experimentation of the 90s (and 2001), and instead the record fully comes back home to Kreator’s roots, where it grows stronger than ever. I definitely enjoyed Enemy Of God more than I did Violent Revolution. Not that the previous album was bad, but the more complete usage of Thrash on this album was a nice treat. You can definitely tell that the band was finally done with experimentation, and came back to what made them famous in the first place. Every note, every beat, every rhythm, and even the production value comes from a band that has returned to their old stomping grounds.

Best Track? Voices Of The Dead is a surprisingly emotional song off of this album. Given how anti-religious a lot of the music on Enemy Of God is, it’s ironic that this track shows up halfway through the album. It has a simple buildup for about a minute, with Mille singing in a low tone, and the guitars being played with simple chords. After that buildup, the song immediately drops you into a lake of metalness: the intense barrage never lets up, but at the same time there’s something that tugs a heartstring or two. Definitely one of the weirder songs in Kreator’s entire career.

Voices Of The Dead

Worst Track? While Enemy Of God is a mighty good album, it simultaneously doesn’t do anything that Kreator hasn’t done before. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as the return to Thrash Metal is incredibly welcoming & refreshing. The problem is that doing a lot of the same thing again is what hurt Thrash in the 90s, not just in Kreator’s situation but fundamentally every Thrash Metal band out there. In Kreator’s case it works out, as they took back to Thrash Metal like a fish that jumped out of water.

Enemy Of God. Nothing necessarily new, but instead acts as something of an insurance plan. A statement to the fans saying that “Kreator is back with Thrash”, and that they weren’t going anywhere. However, we would have to wait another 4 years before that band would put out anything new.....but it would definitely be worth the wait. Next album!

Hordes Of Chaos (2009)

If Violent Retribution was the return to Thrash, and Enemy Of God was the insurance policy, then Hordes Of Chaos was a huge deposit in the Thrash Metal bank. Released on January the 13th, 2009, Hordes Of Chaos is the sound of a band that came back to their roots after a long journey. Though Violent Retribution & Enemy Of God were definitely thrashy releases, they came out after a decade of Industrial & Gothic Metal experimentation, and as such have little remnants within them. With this album? Kreator is firmly rooted in their Thrash Metal past, and shows no sign of ever going back to their experimental days. As much as I liked that time, it’s great to see the band go back to what they once knew.

It should also be noted that Hordes Of Chaos marks the first time that a Kreator album ever charted on the U.S. Billboard 200. Sure, getting to 165 on the Billboard 200 (Sales of approximately 2,800 copies in the first week.) might not sound impressive, but given that the band was relatively unknown in the United States for so long, it’s still an accomplishment in it’s own right.

Best Track? Though the entire album is fantastic, you have to give it up to the title track. Spearheading this release, Hordes Of Chaos brings back a bit of Kreator’s early days with Speed Metal. There’s a bit of buildup at the beginning, but past that things are heavy, bombastic, and all kinds of awesome. Mille Petrozza on point with his vocals as well, and he seems to match his singing speed up to the instrumentation almost perfectly. Definitely a great song to open a great album!

Hordes Of Chaos (A Necrologue for the Elite)

Worst Track? Nothing. Kreator were really on point with Hordes Of Chaos. Learning from their past mistakes on the last 2 releases, all of the band members were on point in crafting this record. Even the production quality seems to be improved from 2001 & 2005, as Hordes Of Chaos sounds the cleanest & crispest when compared to everything else in the group’s 2000s library.

Hordes Of Chaos. Taking the strengths of the band’s prior 2 albums & turning them up to the max, it is easily the band’s best album of the 2000s, and a great way to close that decade. However, in 3 years time, Kreator would crank out a record that would be even better. Next album!

Phantom Antichrist (2012)

Just when you thought that it was safe to go into the water, Kreator came out with a monster release of an album, and it’s name was Phantom Antichrist! Released on the first of June, 2012, Phantom Antichrist is perhaps the fastest thing the band has ever made. From beginning to end, Kreator’s first offering of the 2010s, perhaps more than anything from the prior decade, is a sure sign that Mille Petrozza & the rest of the band have returned to the ways of Thrash. Not only that, but Phantom Antichrist managed to chart higher on the Billboard 200 (No. 130/Sold 3,900 copies in the 1st week) than Hordes Of Chaos did! That’s pretty impressive if you ask me.

Best Track? Phantom Antichrist, much like Kreator’s last release, is stacked top to bottom with nothing but awesome songs. Absolutely everything is a treat to listen to, and by the time you’re done, you’ve probably grown a full head of long hair and are headbanging furiously. However, the title track easily spearheads this whole record. Perhaps the fastest song on the album, it opens up with a battalion of guitarists & bassists, only to be supported by a salvo of a drum performance. The blast beat generated by Jürgen 'Ventor' Reil, if you’re not careful, will leave you full of holes! Listen if you dare!

Phantom Antichrist

Worst Track? Like Hordes Of Chaos, Phantom Antichrist is a monster record. The vocals are superb, the instrumentation is top notch, and the production quality is fantastic. Kreator cranked out a hell of an album, and it more than adequately serves as a fantastic starter for the 2010s. Would the band be able to top themselves somehow? Hmmm......

Gods Of Violence (2017)

Phantom Antichrist, as awesome as the record was, raised the bar higher than ever. It’s badassery & Thrash laden material really added further credit to Kreator, and showed the world they were a force to be reckoned with & they would never stray from the Thrash Metal path again. However, fans would have to wait nearly 5 years before new material came out. But then, on January the 27th of last year, Kreator fans finally got an offering from the Germanic gods by the name of Gods of Violence. This......behemoth of an album! Unfortunately, it did not manage to raise the bar further than the group’s prior record did. However, I think it did something just as good......it tied with Phantom Antichrist. In many ways, both of these albums are like a heavy metal equivalent of Cho’Gall from Warcraft: Phantom Antichrist is the speedier & thrashier album, while Gods Of Violence is more rhythmic & brutal. Gods Of Violence also happens to be the most politically charged album of the bands career: with only a few exceptions, Kreator always had politics in their music in some way. With their newest album, the politics are front in center, and it’s this reason that the record gained my number 1 spot on my top 5 albums of 2017 (On top of it’s quality).

I should note that this is Kreator’s highest charting album in the United States to date. Again, reaching 118 on the Billboard 200 might not seem like much, but in comparison to the prior 2 releases, it’s the record that’s performed the best to date.

Best Track? Bit of a tie between 4 songs. Not 2, not 3, but 4 earsplitting tracks of awesome! For starters, you’ve got the title track, but then there’s the religious-themed Satan Is Real, and the middle finger to the Third Reich (And Tyrants In General) in the form of Totalitarian Terror. When they were getting released, they were each telling part of a story. Gods Of Violence was about the birth of a murderous demon that was a threat to all, while Satan Is Real sees the demon sometime later wrecking havoc in a small medieval town, and finally Totalitarian Terror sees the demon infiltrating the Third Reich. Though this small list is a little out of order on the album itself (Gods Of Violence plays after Totalitarian Terror), even that doesn’t diminish the power of these 3 tunes, and still manages to tell it’s story quite well.

Gods Of Violence

Satan Is Real

Totalitarian Terror

The 4th best track on Gods Of Violence is the surprisingly heartfelt Fallen Brother. Another emotional song that’s surprising to listen to the first time around, Fallen Brother take the listener aside for a moment of emotion. An ode to metal singers, rockers, and artists (Musical & Otherwise) that sadly are no longer on this Earth as it were. Despite the emotion, the heaviness & intensity from the rest of the album doesn’t leave thing song just because it goes in a softer direction emotionally. Easily the sleeper hit of the album!

Fallen Brother

Worst Track? Absolutely nothing! Sticklers or hardcore fans might cite the fact that the album didn’t push the bar higher, but even then only the most elitist of Kreator fans might say that. For me, tying with one of the best albums of the 2010s in terms of quality is just as good if not better!

Gods Of Violence. Kreator at their most political, thrashiest, and their most kickassiest yet. If your are curious about a legend’s modern day material, you won’t find a better record that this. Definitely recommended, and still the best album of 2017!

And that was my last look at Kreator. Regaining their Thrash Metal throne alongside the rest of the Teutonic Four, it looks like the band will never stray from the thrash path again. Well, with this last post done, March is just around the corner, and my annual Genericon review is not far after that. See you soon!



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If you’re curious about listening to these albums, then check out the links below:

Violent Revolution

Enemy Of God

Hordes Of Chaos

Phantom Antichrist

Gods Of Violence

Also, if you didn't look at parts 1 & 2, check out the links below:

Metal Overview: Kreator (Part 1)

Metal Overview: Kreator (Part 2)