Kreator

Kreator is a German thrash metal band formed in 1982, in Essen, but became official in 1984. Kreator, along with their compatriots Tankard, Destruction and Sodom, are considered the four greats of German thrash metal.

History

The band was formed in 1982 thanks to the growth in technical skill and talent of the band members.

In 1985 they released their debut album entitled "Endless Pain", with which they became known in Germany and the rest of Europe.

The track “Flag of Hate” became Kreator's first hit and the band became one of the most promising new bands at Metal festivals in Europe at that time.

In 1986 they released the album Pleasure to Kill, which is widely considered a thrash classic and a major influence on death metal. It would not be until 31 years after its release that Pleasure to Kill it entered the German album charts.

In 1987, their work "Terrible Certainty" was released, which is considered by many to be Kreator's best album. Thanks to the entry of their new guitarist Jörg Trzebiatowski, the arrangements were more complex and the more varied times. The popularity of the band continued to grow thanks to the success of the song "Behind The Mirror" (Behind the mirror). The Kreators managed to find the time and money to record and release their Extended Play (EP) "Out of the Dark... Into the Light" the same year.

In 1988 Kreator signed with a major record label, Epic Records, which would be his representation in the United States. His debut with this label was his album "Extreme Aggression" (Extreme Aggression) which became a Metal hit. This album continues with the formula of their previous work, "Terrible Certainty" but at the same time shows the musical progress of the band and thanks to the improvement in production, this time by Randy Burns, the band finally obtained its most important singles with promotional videos, among them the song “Betrayer” (Traitor), achieving high turnover at MTV's Headbangers Ball. The band made their first US tour with Suicidal Tendencies, which further magnified their popularity outside of Europe. Also for the tour of this album Tritze left the band and Frank Blackfire who had recently left Sodom was recruited to replace him.

In 1990, Kreator released his work “Coma of Souls”. This album did not receive as positive a reception as its predecessors (many consider that it was recorded in a great hurry and is somewhat repetitive), ironically to this day it has been the best-selling and best-distributed Kreator album worldwide and likewise obtained some recognition thanks to songs like "People Of The Lie" (People of the Lie). The same year Kreator released his first video in VHS format, titled “Live in East Berlin”, which was reissued in 2008 on DVD and CD under the name "At the Pulse of Kapitulation".

The new directions

Things changed in the 90s. Kreator decided to experiment with other metal styles. The result of this was “Renewal” (Renewal) which was produced together with Scott Burns, who by then was responsible for most of the Death Metal coming out of Tampa, Florida. This album contains influences from industrial metal sounds and although they reached a new and more commercial audience, many of their most loyal fans accused the band of having "sold out" to the music industry. Kreator, after being recognized as an excellent live band, suffered from a low audience in their presentations, due to the rejection of their industrial influences.

Around this time, the band began to have serious difficulties. After the tour of the album "Renewal", Rob Fioretti decided to retire from the group tired of the extensive tours and with the aim of dedicating himself to his family due to the birth of his second child. He was replaced by Andreas Herz. In 1994 Jürgen 'Ventor' Reil also quit, leaving Mille Petrozza as the only member of the original lineup present. To further complicate matters, their contract with Epic Records was canceled and they only had support from Noise Records in Europe. Petrozza tried to redo the formation of the band including Joe Cangelosi as the new drummer, however, the hasty departure of Hertz complicated the situation again.

Nevertheless, Kreator did not give up and, hiring Christian Giesler as a new bassist, signed with GUN Records and recorded in 1995 "Cause for Conflict”. The sound of this album contains clear influences from Pantera and Machine Head, returning to a more aggressive sound than their previous work. Although this album was aggressive, traditional Kreator fans criticized it for not having the band's signature sound. Cangelosi, despite being a very good drummer, did not capture the spirit of Kreator and gave the band another sound, which can be appreciated when listening to 'Ventor' on the band. play live some of the songs from that album such as "Lost". Following the release of Cause for Conflict, 'Ventor' returned to the band.

In 1996 Kreator released a compilation album through his label at the time, Noise Records. The result was “Scenarios Of Violence” which not only contains a retrospective collection with remastered and digitally remixed tracks by Siggi Bemm and Mille Petrozza himself, but also two new tracks and several unreleased live cuts, recorded on the Dynamo Club of Eindhoven, the Netherlands, in 1988.

The band continued to experiment with their sound, recording their albums “Outcast” in 1997 and “Endorama” in 1999, two albums in which they experimented with influences from Atmospheric, Goth and Ambient music, however, they kept their rhythms and essences metal compositions. As of the "Outcast" Kreator featured guitarist Tommy Vetterly, who replaced Frank 'Blackfire' Godzik. Godzik had left the band to embark on new musical paths away from Metal.

Back in 1999, Kreator decided to make a compilation containing a selection of his most successful songs during the 90's, entitled “Voices Of Transgression - A 90's Retrospective” under his new record label GUN Records. This collection of hits, compiled by Mille Petrozza, contains three previously unreleased live cuts: "Inferno", "As We Watch the West" and a cover of "Lucretia (My Reflection)" (this being original from The Sisters Of Mercy)

Then, in the year 2000, Kreator released a CD single of the song “Chosen Few” (Los Pocos Elegidos), a song originally contained on the album “Endorama”. This CD Single contains a new previously unreleased track, “Children Of A Lesser God” as well as video clips for the tracks “Chosen Few” and “Endorama”.

The return to the roots

In 2001, guitarist Tommy Vetterli left the band and was replaced by Sami Yli-Sirniö. Kreator recorded and released his furious album “Violent Revolution” (Violent Revolution). Said album was published by Steamhammer Records, with which they definitively returned to their characteristic Thrash metal sound. It was welcomed with open arms by critics and longtime fans alike. The tour that accompanied this album was extremely successful and introduced a new Kreator to a new and younger generation of Metal fans.

By 2003, the band was back in top shape and, building on this momentum, they released their first and only live double CD titled “Live Kreation”, which is released together with a DVD on called “Live Kreation: Revisioned Glory”. He also marked the historic tour together with the other two pioneers of German Thrash Metal: Sodom and Destruction.

In 2005 they recorded the album “Enemy of God” (Enemy of God), which was released in January of that year. Received with great expectation, it did not disappoint its old fans or its new fans in any way, since it maintained the brutality and talent of the previous album, without being a repetition of it. Then, in October 2006, the album was re-released under the title “Enemy of God: Revisited”, which contains excellent previously unreleased live material recorded at the Wacken Festival, inserted as bonus tracks on the CD. It also contains a bonus DVD full of video clips and live cuts.

It should be noted that on June 3, 2005, Kreator performed live for the first time in a North African country, specifically in Casablanca, Morocco, at a festival called L'Boulevard. In 2008 the band reissued the concert "Live in East Berlin" in DVD version, which was released under the name of "At Pulse Of Kapitulation".

Finally, in January 2009, Kreator presented his work titled "Hordes of Chaos" (Hordes of chaos), which is made up of ten dizzying and aggressive songs that maintain the perfect balance between the band's classic style, and a current and contemporary sound. The album maintains the continued success of his last albums.

Hordes of Chaos Tour

This new album served as support for a new great world tour that took them to a good number of countries in Europe, North America, Central America, South America and Asia, throughout 2009 and part of 2010. For a good part of the 2009 tour they shared the stage with the North American band Exodus.

Unfortunately, drummer Ventor was unable to take part in some tour dates for personal reasons, being replaced by virtuoso session drummer Marco Minnemann. Ventor was out of performances in Russia, Asia, Australia, and Latin America.[1] He then rejoined the band and this summer marks the group's 25th anniversary. It should be noted that Kreator's music has been used for organizations such as PETA, which act in defense of ecology and the animal kingdom.

Phantom Antichrist

Phantom Antichrist is their thirteenth studio album, which was released in June 2012 through the Nuclear Blast record company. The digipack edition includes a bonus DVD with documentaries on the making of the album and a set of live performances performed at the Wacken Open Air festivals in 2008 and 2011. Phantom Antichrist is probably one of his best works in recent years of his musical career, however, being clear that his sound is very modern, however, it is a mixture of the past with the new and the characteristic influences of guitarists. A limited version of the album is available through Nuclear Blast's online store, which comes in a metal box containing the CD+DVD version of the album, an exclusive live disc called Harvesting The Grapes of Horror, like the one it contains. the live audio from the DVD, a red T-shirt with the band logo and album title, a photo card signed by Mille Petrozza, an A1 poster of the album cover, and a numbered certificate of authenticity.

The title album was released as a limited edition seventh single on vinyl, which sold out very quickly. An exclusive B-side cover of "The Number of The Beast" by Iron Maiden has since been released digitally.

In 2017, Kreator has released his new album entitled Gods of Violence. This work received generally positive reviews, and was their first album to reach number one on the German charts.

Members

Timeline

Discography

• 1985: Endless Pain
• 1986: Pleasure to Kill
• 1987: Terrible Certainty
• 1989: Extreme Aggression
• 1990: Coma of Souls
• 1992: Renewal
• 1995: Cause for Conflict
• 1997: Outcast
• 1999: Endorama
• 2000: Voices of Transgression
• 2001: Violent Revolution
• 2005: Enemy of God
• 2009: Hordes of Chaos
• 2012: Phantom Antichrist
• 2017: Gods of Violence
• 2022: Hate Über Alles