Flag of Hate

This site calls it a single, I would call it a mini-EP. Flag of Hate was released ahead of Pleasure to Kill, and I'm taking the bold guess that most people born after 1980 got to know it as a bonus addition to said album.

Granted, Pleasure to Kill could not be improved any further. It was flawless (with all its flaws), but whereas bonus songs often are lame and unnecessary, "Flag of Hate", "Take Their Lives" and "Awakening of the Gods" would vastly improve almost every other album in existence.

I have tried to do some "virgin reviews" on here, and indeed found some hitherto unreviewed albums, but ended up disliking many of them. So I wanted to go with a release that is far from unknown, but at the same time not too prevalent in lists of thrash classics etc. Nonetheless, all three songs on Flag of Hate are built on a backbone of truly classic riffs. Kreator at this time were masters of variety, delivering riff after riff after riff; fast and short, technical and raw. They were also fairly negligent of musical tightness, crashing in and out of sync with eachother. In my opinion it just makes the output more energetic, and over-the-top in a positive sense. Flag of Hate of course has two longer songs, which made it somewhat easier for Mille, Ventor and Rob to keep pace with eachother. There are some hiccups, for instance see 04:17 into "Take Their Lives". (Although according to Mille in Pleasure to Kill's liner notes, he had to lay down several basslines during this period. I don't know whether Rob has rebutted to that...) The songs remain interesting even after the 7-minute mark.

The only negative characteristic when comparing Flag of Hate to Pleasure to Kill is the lack of vocals from Ventor. The lyrics themselves are equally ridiculous as they are on the album, though. "Come into my vault and [...] I'll eat your intestines", for instance. Still, this thrashterpiece with cartoonish lyrics is a haven amid all the actual flags of hate being flown in the world today.

Together with "Sentence of Death" and "Expurse of Sodomy", "Flag of Hate" constitutes the triumvirate of classic Teutonic thrash EPs. And just like the outputs of Destruction and Sodom, it delivered fantastic non-album tracks. Even the revised version of the title track appeared as a completely new track. What had happened to Kreator? It seemed as if they had been imprisoned in their rehearsal room between the release of the debut and the here reviewed vinyl, because the new "Flag of Hate" sounded so incredibly tight, compact and precise. Vice versa, all kind of awkwardness had vanished. One could not believe that this was still the same band that had recorded the great yet slightly amateurish "Endless Pain". Already the original version of the track had been energizing, but now the guys offered a pure stimulant. Not to mention the unleashed violence which was expressed by this straight, hyper-fast and fanatic piece. In addition, the sound engineer also left his mark while giving the solo guitar a very exposed position. If one ever wanted to know the origin of the term "screaming guitars", the solo of "Flag of Hate" gives the answer. But the following pieces also featured piercing, extremely loud solo guitars. This brings me to the next piece, the heavyweight "Take Their Lives".

The sawing guitars at the beginning form an extremely effective fundament for the song. Although or exactly because of the fact that Kreator do not put the focus on high-speed, "Take Their Lives" develops a spooky viciousness and the slightly tricky drum rhythm of this tune reflects the newly gained musicianship of the guys. As already indicated, the guitar solos sound one more time like the cries of a bunch of tortured slaves and a small number of tempo changes ensures a dynamic overall impression. From my point of view, this number belongs to the best tracks that the band has ever written, no more, no less. By contrast, "Awakening of the Gods" is slightly weaker, because its (good) guitar work does not reach the outstanding level of the other tunes and its chorus does not possess a compelling line. Yet it is a more than solid number that also illustrates the compositional progress of the band. In terms of complexity, "Awakening of the Gods" pushes all songs of the debut into the minor positions.

The sound of the EP can be described as skullcrushing, to put it mildly. Kreator fabricate a powerful inferno. They leave no stone unturned to destroy any kind of harmony and they are successful in doing so. "Flag of Hate" does not have the sharpness of Sodom's most famous EP, but its vehemence is absolutely exciting. Thus, this comparatively opulent output with a duration of almost 18 minutes belongs to the most impressive releases of the three-piece, because it shows a more or less mature (but still ferocious) formation that had not yet begun to think about business mechanisms. In short, it marked a worthy harbinger of their next album, the great "Pleasure to Kill".

If you don't know much about early Kreator, this EP wil tell you all the important things in the first 10 seconds. The opening title track blazes out furiously from the speakers, without regard for melody or the safety of our ears. These guys are determined to make us either dizzy or deaf and if you ask me they get their way with both. There was no doubting Kreator's thrash credentials for even a moment in the 80s: no melodic invention like Overkill, no subtle vocal lines like Testament, no virtuosity like Megadeth - it's just thrash. And that's kind of the point of 'Flag of Hate', which even the name backs up with its defiant brandishing of its intent and defects from the off.

There are three songs here and in fact it's enough. This is the kind of music that benefits from its hit and run nature, taking no prisoners and leaving no traces. As I mention, the first track goes up the middle with smoke and, though the other two are much longer and slow things down a bit - especially the grooving mid-paced riff on 'Take Their Lives' - they don't really have a let-up in the assault or in tone. Mille Petroza, whatever his actual skill as a vocalist, has always had an awesome and sick thrash metal voice that really sounds disgusted and ugly, like the things he sings about. His utter disgust and disdain gives the songs a believability that was missing from many of the thrash bands, even compatriots Sodom and Destruction (I'm thinking particularly of Schmier's squeals) and makes them sound deathly and extreme without actually becoming too focused in that area. On 'Awakening of the Gods', the band do pull off a couple of proto-death metal riffs, although I would argue that they aren't really focused on being nasty as Sodom maybe were, but actually just trying to go faster and more atmospheric, which comes across as both without losing its sense of enthusiasm and fun.

Maybe that's the reason why this EP triumphs despite its flaws. I think that it's universally acknowledged that some of Kreator's early work bore solos that were more than just Kerry King's random noise bursts, but fully-fledged amelodic shredding into which had been put next to no forethought; add to this that the drums here are a little unbalanced, with some flat snares and cymbals that are occasionally just noisy. However, the band keep it together and sound like they are enjoying themselves more than they should be considering the subjects. It's weird, because the riffs, especially on the more intense 'Flag of Hate', are as tight as a gnat's arse and are joyful to hear, but the songs keep that joy when they spiral off on those crazy, unpracticed solos or escalate into the deathly sections: although the lead guitar that would emerge by the time of 'Coma of Souls' was clearly more skillful, this stands as a suitable addition to the sound on this release. I think it works even better here than on the 'Pleasure to Kill' full-length, because that album just holds its head a little higher and aims for a more ambitious result, which means that the skill needs to equal it and the lack of which is more obvious. Here, the riffs are exquisitely raw and grubby, and the solos match them.

This EP is currently available as part of the 'Pleasure to Kill' reissue, which is the easiest way to pick it up. It works as a compliment piece to that album, but is also a great release in its own right, with a slightly casual attitude that doesn't prevent it from snapping your neck right down the middle.

After the surprising debut Endless Pain, anticipation was running wild for whatever the young band Kreator could come up with next; how their raw, brutal but accessible sound would evolve. So Noise Records issued this three-song EP to tease fans for a few months before the arrival of the band's landmark sophomore, Pleasure to Kill. Flag of Hate has by now been issued in numerous formats, and most will own the tracks as a part of the Pleasure to Kill re-issue CD, but it's original European incarnation had but three songs: "Flag of Hate", which we'd already been flattened with on the debut, and then a pair of longer pieces which would be the true gist of why anyone might want to hunt this down.

I speak, of course, of "Take Their Lives" and "Awakening of the Gods", both of which are quite mandatory if you're at all enamored of the band's first three albums. The former is an aggressive brute which opens with a series of two fisted, mid paced thrash riffs in the verse, wonderfully fused to Mille's barking, and a solid chorus. The track is eerily representative of the direction the band would take for Terrible Certainty, their third long-player. "Awakening of the Gods" is the more sprawling track, 7 1/2 minutes long, the most ambitious of the band to date, with a drawn, warlike intro sequence that transmutes into a disgusting splatter of dense, meaty fast thrash that feels more like the body of work that wound up on Pleasure to Kill. The chorus is a little underwhelming, but the riffs betwixt these and the bridge breakdown/lead do compensate, and ultimately it's a worthwhile addition to their catalog.

As for whether this is worth tracking down or not, well, it's almost a moot discussion. Those just interested in the contents can easily snatch them up elsewhere with a killer full-length album to boot, and even the cover image is included. As a collector's item, there's a certain nostalgia for a title like this, that while later rendered irrelevant, once contained some promising new material that you couldn't find elsewhere. "Take Their Lives" and "Awakening of the Gods" would be well worth acquiring to that rare Kreator fan who has only an original LP of Pleasure to Kill or Endless Pain, and Flag of Hate on the whole would make a nice gem on any collector's shelf, if they're concerned with the authenticity of original pressings. Otherwise, not much value to the article itself.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

The EP that followed the Pleasure To Kill album is considered by many a real small cult for the extreme scene of the 80s. To put out this EP Kreator didn’t wait even a year from the first album and this Flag of Hate is made of three tracks. Two of them immediately catch the eye for their length that is much higher than the usual standard by Kreator. By the way, this Flag Of Hate is remarkable also for another aspect: the music. First of all, we start from the production that is now a bit less chaotic and raw than the one of the first album. The drums, especially, have acquired a sharper touch and they are far more audible. The snare drum is finally higher in volumes.

Another thing we can notice is the songs’ structure. Even a fast one the title track is better developed thanks also to thrasher riffs and less common, childish brutality. The riffs are far better and more mature, taking more influences from the classic thrash. This song is finally a good way to hear a brutal load through different and more complete structures. The violence gains lots of point thanks to these parts and it’s more convincing and blowing. The following “Take Their Lives” is a long semi mid-paced track with some faster restarts. The riffs are more mature and the thrash/speed parts are concentrated on the faster sections. The solos conserve that bestial, chaotic style but we can find an evolution here too. In some parts they are better in style and technique, they’re more polished and the breaks are even more melodic.

A special mention is for the vocals by Mille. They changed a bit in style and they follow the new style of the music. They are far less impulsive and fast, with fewer intentions in following the too fast patterns. They are more pissed off and better in power and personality. The open chords riffs on the longer parts are almost a new thing for this band and the solo lines behind them are good to the atmosphere in order to give variety to the already good tracks. If you listen to the following “Awakening of Kings” we can find even dissonant riffs and galloping parts. This style is the one that this band will follow on the future albums. The violence always lies on several up tempo parts but they are different from the recent parts and they are different in a good way.

The band finally returned to good levels and their technique at the instruments brought them to compose better songs with a stronger songwriting. The variety is far more present and the maturity is coming out. Another thing to notice is the catchiness of these songs that is a direct reflex of the maturity that, as I said, was emerging and we cannot find boring or derivative riffs anymore! It’s incredible how much Kreator grew in a one year period and this is where they choose a less impulsive path to follow, signing officially the road to the very good albums of the end of the 80s-beginning of the 90s. If Pleasure To Kill let you down or simply it was too extreme for you, check this one instead to enjoy these compositions.

After the release of the brutal and very influential Pleasure to Kill, no one knew what this glorious band from Essen would do to top PKT. Their answer to that: this nice little record consisting on three tracks (six if you got the reissue). This record demonstrate us a change in Kreator, the pace was more varied and the vocals were lower than the regular vocals Kreator used at that time.

The guitar tone in this record is as sick as hell, but for the first time in Kreator we can see some melody in the guitars. The song lengths are longer than those of the first two releases. In this record the drums are heavier and thicker than in PTK, and the bass is almost inaudible, but is there and really complement the drums and guitars.

Flag of Hate already appeared on Endless Pain, but this version is heavier, faster and the vocals have more of a death metal touch. Also this version have more of a death metal feeling than the version on Endless Pain, who have more black metal traits.

Awakening of the Gods starts with heavy guitars and strange drums that lead into the agressive vocals of Mille Petrozza. In this song there are some black metal traits commonly found in Endless Pain. It is over 7:30 minutes long, but don't worry, you would not get bored in any second of this song.

Take their Lives is one of the heaviest song I ever heard from Kreator. It is not too fast but it will keep your head banging. The solos on this song are the typical Kreator solos, with a lot of tremolo picking and whammy bar.

If you like the agression and brutality of Pleasure to Kill, but also the melody and variety of Terrible Certainty, try to get this ep!

"...you know you're helpless till the end of time..."

Flag of Hate enters the fold aurally pissed and thrown into circulation as a fully formed bridge to a place in Kreator's history that wasn't yet realized, let alone built. The ep surveys the situation. Peering back at its rear foundation, it chokes on poisonous smoke billowing from still smoldering “Tormenter”, “Endless Pain”, and “Total Death” – three gasket-blown brutes given longevity on this six-tracker (this is the Combat bridge, by the way) to continue twisting solid steel like damp sponges. Looking ahead, the ep naturally sees the cavern below, however solid places to begin and (especially) end bridge construction is sketchy. Is it even worth the trouble? Deeply downwind, however, floats something of a dangerously gassy spore, one wafting a harmfully-sweet aroma, like pre-ignition fumes of a flamethrower, or a leaking oil tanker that's moments away from blowing as it slowly floats through the inferno it's responsible for creating. Then from the cavern below something rumbles, palpably, like the personal thunder of some vast entity still shielded from human eye. Something’s awakening down there, something more transcendentally bestial than the three-piece's initial slab, something that can ensnarl with Endless Pain-like vengeance, yet boils with an authentic severity that's thicker than the debut's bile. It's fresher bile that's blacker, is more congealed and lovingly decorates Lord Intensity’s sunroom. In its path to full power, this unknown organism from below manages to possess the body and soul of an old soldier in Kreator’s armed forces while simultaneously breeding a pair of new life forms in barbed and blistered test tubes.

With possession comes vivification, and this hellion ep roars the true future fury of Kreator.

“Flag of Hate” is reborn here - given breath and unchained by what boils up to an even more malicious Kreator than the one that penned perilous Endless Pain, an album that was far from shackled, but in light of this unexpected uncoiling of might, suddenly seems so. The tormented yet slightly irresolute stride of the original "Flag of Hate" now stampedes on all fours, bristling with an explosive intensity that'd be rivaled by few and envied by many. It’s thrash’s simple pill - intensity's pure domination amplified by a production that's massive and fully on the throttle. “Take Their Lives” gallantly flies off in a different direction and lurches with a serrated main riff that's like a cryptic, yet incendiary commandment menaced by a bottom end that crunches against the rocks of the cavern floor below. This gears up for the bludgeoned bombardment and thick gargle of speed-shifting mania that is “Awakening of the Gods” - at the time the closest ‘epic’ specimen they could proudly sign their name to. Mille, one of the band's two craftsmen of crazy vocals, sticks all three of these tracks under his bullet belt as his acid-corroded bray invents new sounds of a leprous and tortured kind.

Now three tracks would’ve been just fine, but the US version throws the three aforementioned Endless Pain tracks in their original unhallowed glory into the scrimmage - a joy for the Americans who missed their tumultuous debut (most chain record stores were usually off in some metallic la-la land where Killer Dwarfs roam, meanwhile indie shops were commonly frightened by the extra import shipping costs - and as a former record store owner I've totally crept through that same forest).

Not only is Flag of Hate a bridge to Kreator’s more outer-serving, feral din much in the way Expurse of Sodomy links Sodom to thrash’s more precise and intricate level, it’s a gangplank to the implosion of then-contemporary thrash metal. It's the formerly sleepy beast that sees the new horizon as something to stampede over, but hunger persuades it to wait for the construction crew to finish the bridge to the chasm's other side where they'll promptly become snack food. It’s also three dudes cementing themselves into the three-pronged Teutonic warmachine that made average Kraut rock seem more and more like a warped square dance recording.

So Dave, what the hell have you been spewing on about for the last sixty or so lines of text?

Well, at the end of the day, the beast - Kreator's inner-beast - angrily climbed free of its red-eyed cavern slumber completely awakened by Flag of Hate's sweat-soaked a-side. Three months later the construction crew hammers the final nail in the bridge traversing the cavern and are devoured by this inner-beast. With hunger pains gone and new fuel ingested, the act's inner-beast immediately rushes toward the November horizon, full stomach and all. Exploding from Kreator's soul in mid-charge, we finally glimpse Pleasure to Kill and its nifty Phil Lawvere cover - the sonic holocaust often heralded as the time's next (and in the opinion of many fans, unsurpassed) embodiment of thrash Armageddon.

"...I'll bring you down to your knees..."

Starts off with even “worse” production than Pleasure to Kill, but this album/EP has tormentor on it, so you cannot complain. I like Pleasure to Kill more, but this album has value, and you have to excuse them for minor things because it’s a really early EP. The song Flag of Hate is a lot of fast screaming with some great inaudible riffs in the middle. It’s rough around the edges, also not leaving one second for you to recover from the thrashy madness. The drums sound very loud and the double bass is amazing, having this bubbly sound to it. The sound is really open, but still closed, like being recorded in a small room with the resonance of a warehouse, the sound goes everywhere, but is still closed…

Take Their Lives has a great thrashy intro with a killer riff. Mille enters with his typical dissonant black/thrash vocals. It’s a midpaced thrasher, with some awesome guitar fills and interesting rhythm. The feel is harsh, commanding, yet desperate, trying to get something he can’t… reaching out somehow, especially in the last part where he screams “Take their liiiiiiiiiiiiiiveesss”. The song changes completely in the middle, to a little faster paced thrash, with a lovely dissonant solo in it. The advantage of the album is that it just gets better and better, through the fast attack Awakening the Gods, and Endless Pain, which seems to have different vocals on it, or at least altered Mille vocals. The classic Tormentor is on this too, which is even better live, cus he uses more growly vocals rather than the high vocals on here… Total Death is in the same vein as Tormentor, but with more poisonous vocals….

This mini EP pushes three songs; two of the three being over six minutes long. That really doesn't matter though when you spin it. This EP offers pure fucking German thrash metal. Since it is pretty short, I will review each song to give the EP justice.

The song Flag of Hate is rather short, compared to the other songs on this album. It starts off super fast, like good thrash tends to do, and never slows down. The guitar riffs are stellar and the drummer does a good job of throwing in some beats that seem off, yet everyone still stays on beat. Even after the chorus's the song never looks to slow down. Add this in with some hate filled thrash vocals and a Slayerish solo towards the end and you got a damn good thrash song.

Take Their Lives and Awakening of the gods never made it to a full-length album, but they have a lot to offer. Take Their Lives isn't a super fast song, but it carries a pack full of decent thrash riffs. The vocals shine on this song, as they do on this EP, and are sometimes growled like (especially towards the end of sentences). After three minutes and some, the song slows down and shows off some more good guitar playing. The song appropriately ends with a solo after six minutes of bang your head thrash.

Awakening of the gods is another one of those good songs, that never cut it to the real time, but deserve to be there. Of course the guitar playing is awesome on this song, giving us a lot of good thrash riffs. But what stuck out in my mind the most on this song was the drumming. It seems to be louder on this track, then on the other two. Trying to keep a tempo for these fast songs while adding drum fills seems impossible, but this guy gets it done. The song goes through some tempo changes and turns out to be an overall great thrash song, but I think they over did it making the song seven minutes and thirty seconds long.

Overall, three awesome German thrash metal songs that every metal head would enjoy. Production is kind of weak at times, unless you get the EP with the Pleasure to Kill re-release, then I would imagine the quality being better. Still though, great thrash metal for all time!!!