Gods of Violence

Gods of Violence is one of the most interesting albums when it comes to revisit the long discography of Kreator, its evolution has been peculiar, from beginnings that positioned them, not only as one of the most influential bands of the Teutonic thrash scene, but also as great influences in the development of extreme trends such as death metal until they became one of the most important and popular thrash bands in their country with Coma of Souls, after that came an alternative period in the 90's where they started experimenting with other genres, a period that, even though it was not well seen in the eyes of many, with time has gained followers and defenders. With the entry into the new century also came a revival of the band with a very marked traditional thrash style and to some extent quite safe, this state is for many the longest lasting of the band and one that begins to feel repetitive, as there are not few who say they have been playing the same style since "Violent Revolution". But I don't think this is quite the case, I think Kreator's evolution in the 21st century from one album to the next has been more of a subtle, a natural progression that is only noticeable over time, and I think the turning point in style was seen with this album. Phantom Antichrist was the first work of the current Kreator to introduce traces of melodic death metal, but it was on this Gods of Violence where those elements were fully embraced, this added to the uplifting and anthemic spirit that developed in the songwriting made that, with this work, Kreator took the place of Arch Enemy as the maximum exponents of the old guard of melodic extreme metal.

So in Gods of Violence one will find a mashup of songs that fulfill a significant function, there are the songs that have a more direct and aggressive style that are derivative of what Kreator was doing in a marked way the last years, like "World War Now" or "Totalitarian Terror", with a much faster and thrasy cut, some of these tracks are some of my favourite parts of the album, because they show that even with all the changes and the time that has passed the members of Kreator still have the qualities to create a thrash song in their own style and totally memorable. Then there are the more anthemic tracks, like "Hail to the Hordes" or "Side by Side" among others, where, as I mentioned before, they manage to do the style that Arch Enemy has had to become a highly popular band, but Kreator manages to do it better and without sacrificing their musical quality, the songs simply work because the members give it their all and understand that their performance should not lose strength just because the song is more melodic, also the songwriting emphasizes a lot the uplifting feeling and the simplistic choruses achieve their goal of memorability. In addition, the lyrics, although far from being profound, do reflect in a reliable way feelings of rebellion when you are a misfit and society has disowned you because of the way you are or your sexual preferences, the whole combo in the end ends up being incredibly practical and functional.

Then there are songs that are kind of in the middle ground that have aspects of the two types of songs I have highlighted, plus some of them include moments that bring novelty and vitality to the listen, I think the best examples of these would be the song "Gods of Violence" and "Lion with Eagle Wings", both feature an intro with more exotic instrumentation, and they manage to be quite anthemic in their choruses but without the songs being centred around them and allow themselves to show more layers and tones to songs that don't need to get too long to show different ranges. Surely this transition to melodic death metal was partly implemented by Sami Yli-Sirniö, who has been in the Finnish progressive/melodic death metal band Barren Earth since their formation, so this attribution to Kreator's sound has not only felt natural in the context of their evolution, but they have managed to integrate it perfectly into their sound without it ever feeling out of place. The rest of the band, especially Ventor and Petrozza are in the fantastic shape they boast of both in the studio and live, always giving their best, Petrozza especially keeping his vocal style untouchable and solid for many years.

2017 was a great year for Kreator, the success in sales and popularity of this album was incomensurable, and since that year I have noticed a huge number of new Kreator fans, specifically people born in the 2000's or late 90's, and this is not because of a song of theirs in a popular series, it's a result of knowing how to adapt with your music and finding the balance between satisfying a large part of your old audience and capturing a new one, there will always be those who reject any kind of change and hate the current Kreator, but for every one like that there will be a handful of new fans who will not only enjoy this band in its present form, but who will have a whole past to enjoy. I don't consider, musically speaking, this Gods of Violence as one of Kreator's best albums, but I'll be damned if this album is anywhere near bad, it sounds great, current but timeless, and I respect a lot of the things it tries and also the things it achieves.

I didn't think too highly of this release, hence the "C" rating. I thought that the guitars were generic and not well thought out. Nothing like the older days like 'Coma of Souls' or 'Violent Revolution'. I just think Mille is end of his road and legacy with his band. There's a lot of talk about the new album, but if it's going to be like this or even worse, I'm not getting it! The only good about this album are the vocals and some of the riffs (but not many). I was quite disappointed with this album. There's not a lot of good to say about it. When Kreator was a band whose riffs used to be fantastic. Just please, take out the sloppy leads!

Most tracks were filled with disdainful hatred, but they also didn't show much enthusiasm. Not like say 'Enemy of God'. They just lagged through this. It's something that I'd have to talk to Mille about. If this is a Kreator album he'd take to a deserted album. I doubt it. The only tracks I like on here are "Satan is Real" and "Fallen Brother", the rest are just mediocre. The latter track signifies those in the metal world that passed away, especially Cliff Burton of Metallica. The music videos for the two songs I mentioned were good. But they should've made all the songs catchy and noteworthy. This is truly a TRAGEDY.

If Kreator is to still make music especially in this pandemic, they have to step it up. Take out the sloppy leads unless they had their old guitar player on 'Coma of Souls' Frank Blackfire. He's I think playing again with Sodom. His leads were magnificent. Mille's always been sloppy, he should just stick to rhythm guitar/vocals. He never seemed to master the art of playing lead guitar. I think he's another self-taught guitarist. But really, he should've stayed rhythm (as I say).

'Gods of Violence' doesn't really have anything to offer the metal community. With those two tracks and that's it, but all the rest are pretty generic. I feel that this album was a step back from their good releases and I chuck this on in the trash. What a disappointment. Mille's vocals should stay strong, he needs to focus on his songwriting and what the critics are saying about his musicianship on here. The clean vocals, too are something that he needs to work on. Check out those two tracks but please steer clear of the rest of the album. If you thought those two were bad, don't even think about getting the album.

Kreator once released pure brutality. Later on, they were not afraid of some more or less courageous experiments. Today they are neither overly brutal nor experimental. Their compositions ooze out maturity and experience from every pore. This is regrettable. Furthermore, they have lost their autonomy. Somebody has told them that every song must have a catchy chorus; "Satan Is Real" follows this order. Another guy pointed out that even the most furious song needs a melodic part; "World War Now", actually a strong and vehement piece, suffers exactly from its lame part. Give your German fans a candy, a third know-it-all said; lo and behold, "Fallen Brothers" holds some German lines (the next Wacken Open Air comes for sure). Forgive me that I am not willing to list further examples.

Well, all these details are annoying, but the most irritating fact is that pretty harmless harmonies destroy the power of songs such as "Totalitarian Terror". Its melodic bridge is terrible. Thrash was meant to be an explosion of energy, not a kind of stop-and-go system. Yet Kreator offer a pretty polished form of mainstream metal with acoustic intros, emotional intermezzos and well-dosed parts that give the guys with a less radical music taste a reason to lend an ear to the album. Clever strategy, but not very authentic. It seems as if the business has taken control over a once independent band. I am definitely not the one who is seeing through the hype, but Kreator's tactical move is more or less obvious. Okay, Mille's slightly grim voice has never been outstanding and it also does not dominate the new songs. Instead, the mid-harsh thrashers try to combine relatively straight and fast parts with rather hymnal or less dangerous sections while the guitar work defines the compositions. The guys are good songwriters and they have a knack for effective designs, nevertheless, the majority of the songs sounds somewhat cheap. Nobody expected a new "Flag of Hate", but did they have to do it in such a predictable way?

Talking of predictability, it goes without saying that the production is perfect or what Nuclear Blast considers as perfect. "Gods of Violence", the top candidate for the most vapid album title of the 21st century, sounds voluminous, clean and soulless. Every technician with dirt under the finger nails did not have access to the recording sessions. This is not "Thrash, Altenessen", but "Thrash, Düsseldorf" and you must know that Düsseldorf is a pretty chic city in Germany, not far away from Kreator's home base. A certain amount of good ideas cannot be ignored, but they are not able to shape fantastic songs, probably because Kreator, a flagship of its company, are confronted with social constraints that do not allow a really sharp and spicy thrash album. Good riffs are not missing, but they have to fight with all these lacklustre details that the band has integrated as well. So if your heart beats for slightly synthetic thrash of guys who are intelligent enough to avoid compositional hits below the belt, "Gods of Violence" is your album. If you do not like Maiden-esque "Thrash" whose commercial intention cannot be ignored, you better keep your fingers away.

Originally written for Metalegion Magazine (www.metalegion.com)

The beginning of 2017 is starting to look a lot like the last few years in heavy metal, lots of bands releasing new albums, but not just run of the mill, let’s do another record, these bands are releasing albums of their careers. A lot of these bands are beyond their zenith, but are now enjoying life beyond the huge arse fucking that the major labels dealt them, they have their own creative control and this is one of the reasons why we have seen such an influx in well above par records in recent years.

This time it is Teutonic thrash metal legends, Kreator, to take centre stage with their latest release, 'Gods of Violence'. Debatably, the German thrash metal movement is considerably more brutal than its Transatlantic counterparts with Kreator always being in the forefront, standing alongside the equally brutal Destruction and Sodom. Just like many bands, Kreator may have strayed from their thrash metal roots in the 90’s and experimented with a more Industrial sound, but since the turn of the millennium, Kreator re-embraced their original sound with a more mature and experienced vision.

In true heavy metal fashion, 'Gods of Violence' begins with an introductory instrumental, the marching 'Apocalypticon' before bull-rushing into the formidable 'World War Now'. In fact, formidable is a great way to describe the entire of 'Gods of Violence', the song-writing, craftsmanship and musicianship is top notch and Mille Petrozza sounds as fresh as he has ever been with his voice substantially better than in his younger days. How do you push beyond 'World War Now'? It is obvious to Kreator, with the superb 'Satan is Real' with its simple droning, almost chant like chorus that will get stuck in your head.

Each song on 'Gods of Violence' bats back and forth, easily memorable and enjoyable barring the rather unnecessary 'Lion with Eagle Wings'. The title track itself begins with an acoustic fingerpicking that is reminiscent of Metallica’s 'Fade to Black' at times before ploughing at break neck speed into the fist in air simple chant of “We shall kill!”. In fact, that could sum up 'Gods of Violence', each song relies on that one little hook, that one little niggle that once it gets in, it has you and before you know it, you’ll have 'Gods of Violence' on repeat.

Kreator have never been a band to shy away from tough lyrical subjects and even taboo in some parts of the world. 'Side by Side' challenges homophobia, not just in heavy metal, but in the world and for those nay-sayers in the world who say that heavy metal doesn’t write beautiful songs, then this is an example of how the heavy metal world supports people no matter their race, colour, creed or sexuality. A simple reminder if you ever needed one that heavy metal has no boundaries. 'Gods of Violence' also gives a beautiful eulogy to the late Cliff Burton, as well as the sheer amount of musicians and fans of the genre who are no longer with us through 'Fallen Brother'.

With 'Gods of Violence', Kreator have delivered an album of high quality and is definitely a must add addition to any thrash metal fans catalogue. It is still early in the year, but it is doubtful that any thrash metal album will top this in 2017, 'Gods of Violence' is fun, it is memorable and above all, it makes you want to play it over and over again.

Kreator's post-experimental run of albums, while marginally divisive among their older fanbase, should be respected from more than a few points of view. Primarily, Mille and crew have done a great job at maintaining their indignant, rotten core while updating their sound to appeal to a more contemporary crowd. This manifests itself in the form of what many like to label as melodic thrash metal, but to be frank the band sounds closer to exceptionally riff-centric melodeath most of the time. Sami Yli-Sirniö's Finnish roots are clearly a source of much of this, and with Gods of Violence, the band fully embraces their more melodic side, reaping the most returns since Coma of Souls, even if some old school thrashers will call betrayal on much of this material. Although the band has been accused of sleepwalking through the last few years (Phantom Antichrist felt extremely redundant and lacking in flair) - I personally feel that Kreator has stoked the flames of discontent with this album in a manner worthy of nearly-grand praise.

Irregardless of melodic aptitude, Gods of Violence is not without its own combustible armament of solid thrash riffing to link the chains in an endearingly punishing manner while Sami inveigles and obfuscates with his concurrently focused and madcap lead work. One of the more distinctive riffs has to be the verse number on the title track, which sounds like a fusion between Kalmah and perhaps Amon Amarth. The concussive din of the rhythm riffs helps keep the album sounding just as "Kreator" as anything released in the last decade and a half. To be honest, there is very little to complain about regarding track selection, a profound plus because the band has been guilty of stuffing recent releases with interchangeable filler - especially on albums like Enemy of God. "World War Now" opens with a petulant barrage offset by open chugging on the verses - all pretty standard for the band. The epic lead break around the two minute mark is where the album truly begins to show its colors, being one of many triumphant fist-raising sections that should really bring the house down in the live arena. Killer.

Further down in the tracklist, "Hail to the Hordes" downshifts a bit to cultivate a concrete-cracking mid-paced gait, providing a menacing contrast to the higher speed that dominates much of the remainder. "Lion with Eagle Wings" is another standout, featuring the now-familiar atmospheric buildup, and great tremolo work firing off during the verses. But my favourite cut here has to be "Totalitarian Terror," which is a grinding speeder inundated with strikingly memorable leads and the best solo on the album. It simply sounds so focused and wastes virtually no time wallowing in pretense or feigning aggression - and it definitely shows.

While most of us have experienced familiar sequences before, Gods of Violence really nails that easy-to-embrace epic feel without feeling corny or forced. It's like a big blockbuster action movie that while you can openly admit is kind of transparent and daft at times, gives you the douche-chills during the climax. Even the production values feel well-suited, with a voluminous, yet raw guitar tone and airtight pop to the percussion. In conclusion, Kreator have delivered a racing, ripping modern monument that slaughters most upstart bands at their own game. I expect many to throw this one to the wolves and write it off as Wacken-ready mainstream fodder, but Gods of Violence will still enjoy praise many years down the road, I think.

Five years between albums is a long time when out of all the old guard of eighties thrash metal bands, you’ve been by far the most consistent of the twenty first century. Once one of the most fearsome and brutal thrash metal bands out there as evidenced by genre landmarks Pleasure to Kill and Extreme Aggression, the experimental nineties led to some decent but ultimately questionable releases, another thrash band that seemed to have been claimed by the decade that all but buried the genre.In 2001 Kreator “mark three” came back with a vengeance with Violent Revolution, returning to a more straight forward thrash style, returning to the heaviness of the past but polishing up the production, amping up the crowd-pleasing epic song writing and imbuing an Iron Maiden-esque sense of guitar melody – winning over new fans, and winning back all but the staunchest of the eighties fans who stopped listening. A four album run since then culminated in their best album of the 21st century era in Phantom Antichrist, taking all these elements to perfection, followed by multiple headline tours and headline slots at Wacken, Summer Breeze and Metal Days, among others of the most prestigious festivals in Europe. So to reiterate, five years has a felt like an almost endless wait but their fourteenth album Gods of Violence is finally here.

If you’re still expecting a return to the somewhat sloppy but awe-inspiring brutality of the eighties – stop waiting because it isn’t coming back. Gods of Violence is exactly the kind of continuance to expected from the melodic but heavy Phantom Antichrist. Mille Petroza’s trademark aggressive but comprehensible snarl drives the songs forward with rousing verses and choruses atop riffs that are equal parts melodic and heavy. The title track is a perfect example of this – fast and melodic riffs that stick in your brain, blazing lead solos coming straight from the Iron Maiden guidebook and pounding thrashy drums all make for a heavy as fuck but easily accessible piece that’s simply classic “mark three” Kreator. The chorus is easy to sing along to the rhythm section gets the head banging away in one of the heaviest tracks on the album, with World War Now and Totalitarian Terror delivering the same brilliant modern thrash.

What Phantom Antichrist did well though was it’s ability to always sound completely epic on every track, even those such as From Flood into Fire or Civilisation Collapse that were slower and more melodic, intended not to be listened to in the bedroom but sung along to en masse at shows. Even if the lyrics got a little cliche it never felt at all cheesy, always sounding epic through the instrumental heaviness and melody. Unfortunately at points on Gods of Violence it seems to go too far when trying to be epic and rousing, by turning the dial down on a little on the heaviness that made it work so well before and by making the lyrics more predictable in their search for this epic sound, they sometimes drift off into cheese territory. The choruses on , Satan is Real, Fallen Brother, Side by Side and Lion With Eagle Wings seem to be lazier than most of the albums of this era, the latter three all being of the “metal brotherhood” sort of predictability, and just coming off as bit forced and cheesy. But the choruses aren’t too much of a problem if the riffs and the rest of the song writing carry it off – plenty of Iron Maiden albums have repetitive choruses while being genre classics. It’s the way at some points the riffs feel somewhat watered down that follow this trend and cement the movement from epic to cheese. If the melodic noodling that serves for a riff in places such as in the beginning of Hail to the Hordes were slightly heavier rather than a somewhat neutered guitar sound it would be much improved – whereas Lion With Eagle Wings is one of the heaviest songs on the album musically, just with a weak chorus.

But none of the songs here are bad, apart from some lazy choruses the song writing is really solid, and it’s only a fraction of the riffs mentioned above that are lacking power, and there’s usually a good degree of melody to make up for it – even if a little saccharine it still holds interest. There’s not a single bad guitar solo on the album, each one blazing furious and melodic. Unfortunately it’s just the fact they can get it spot on 80-90% of the time but lose their way a little the rest of the time that makes it slightly disappointing, as they’re clearly capable of making pretty much perfect albums as evidenced by the previous effort. I wouldn’t for a second entertain the notion that any loss of heaviness is an attempt to make themselves more accessible and reach a larger audience – it’s still a really heavy album on the whole, and their popularity has sky rocketed since the nineties to the biggest point they’ve got to on the back of their touring and albums of the last sixteen years. They just had such a fantastic album to match up to that expectations were set a little too high. It’s a really good effort and is much better than Hordes of Chaos or Violent Revolution, just not quite reaching the heights of Phantom Antichrist or Enemy of God. But while the hints of cheese might creep into the song writing and they sometimes let off the gas pedal on the heaviness, they’re still brilliant, melodic, relevant and above all fun.

Originally written for swirlsofnoise.com

Kreator has it’s roots going back to 1982 so the fact that this band is still active and prolific is a testament to the ability of this band to remain relevant while adapting to an always changing metal scene. They are also quite polarizing since their turn of the century “return” to their extreme metal roots from the experimenting they were doing with their nineties output. Ever since Violent Revolution in 2001 they have combined the best parts of their experimentation and melded it with their thrash roots and it has caused some to not be as accepting as I think they should be. Kreator is still a force to be reckoned with and, despite the accusations of trying to go “Gothenburg” with their sound (an accusation I find absurd), they have managed to keep churning out top notch heavy metal…and isn’t that what matters?

So 2017 brings us Kreator’s fourteenth full length album, Gods of Violence. This album has it all and shows that these Teutonic thrashers can still kreate (sorry, just had to) brilliant metal. No, not every moment is thrash. No this is not Gothenburg worship. No this is not the reincarnation of Coma of Souls or Extreme Aggression as it seems so many are always looking for. Yes there is a lot of melody on this album. In fact, it’s the melodies on this album that make it catchy and unique. And if you listen objectively and closely enough, you’ll hear some really cool nods to the aforementioned classic Kreator albums.

Songs like the opener, “World War Now” and the monster thrasher “Totalitarian Terror” shows this band can still write killer thrash riffs. The latter comes in with a catchy and melodic chorus that gives this song an extra dimension. Both songs have moments that can be compared to their “classic” thrash era with the brilliant riffing going on here. Having that melody is what changes the game for me. These songs are thrash monsters that are also epic metal anthems. How is that wrong? Then you have the solos on this album, which are brilliant and show that Mille and Sami are still on top of their game.

The title track is actually a five minute epic beginning with some cool acoustic guitars and some eastern sounds before crushing with the opening and Mille shouting “We shall kill!” This song is metal as fuck with some serious thrash riffing and a melodic chorus that is super catchy and gives this song that anthemic vibe.”Army of Storms” is another just brilliant song that has some really cool riffing that reminds me of “Come of Souls” a bit before morphing into a totally new killer riff. Once again, the addition of the melodic bridge and the anthemic chorus adds to the brilliance of this song.

The lyrical approach to this album is classic Kreator. Down with the corrupt, fascist, oligarchy that rules us all. Mille’s lyrics has always been geared towards opening our eyes to the injustices of the world and this album is no different. “Side by Side” shows Mille creating a personal dialog between himself and anyone that can personally relate to this song. Mille uses his clean vocals on this song as well as on the closer, the seven and a half minute “Death Has Become My Light.” This song could be Kreator going power metal. The galloping tempo and the melody going into a truly power metal chorus shows this band going into some uncharted territory.

This is modern Kreator and I think it’s fucking brilliant! I’ve been a fan of this band since I first heard Extreme Aggression back in the day. I don’t expect a band of this magnitude to stay stagnant and not grow. This album shows that they can still release quality metal after all these years…a feat that some bands from the 80s just can not pull off. Gods of Violence is a great album and there’s no sign of them slowing down. Nope, this isn’t the second coming of (insert classic Kreator album here). It’s a new chapter.


The Elitist Metalhead

After they furnished killer albums like, Endless Pain, Pleasure To Kill, Terrible Certainty, Extreme Aggression, and Coma of Souls; the fellas from Kreator had become one of my favorite acts in the thrash metal genre. All those years, even until this very day, I always enjoy blasting those mentioned records in my speakers as it gives me such feeling of great enthusiasm that I have always desired to have.

Having mentioned and described the extreme pleasures that the albums above had given me, their recent God of Violence release gives me the opposite. Long gone are the savagery, aggressive nature, and hostility of the materials which are what gives the listeners that intense ecstatic feeling that they had love about the crafts of the mighty Kreator.

Honestly speaking, after Coma of Souls I haven't really dug the records that they had put out following that album. Though Violent Revolution, Enemy of God, and Phantom Antichrist rejuvenated my interest to the band, the succeeding offerings -- which obviously includes Gods of Violence -- had once again let me down.

For a band with a status like Kreator, I know that they can do better than this. They can revive that murderous nature of their tunes if they want to. See, the problem with Gods of Violence is that it inherited the softness and the too much melodic nature of the band's albums after Coma of Souls. I have no problem with bands incorporating melody (Amon Amarth is a band that I enjoy listening and they used numerous melodies in their crafts, but those guys know how to manipulate the melodies and they sure can make it effective and entertaining even in a simplistic manner.) in their crafts, but if it's too much applied it makes the output soft and boring. And being soft and boring is not what fans of extreme music wants with their metal tunes.

There are a few tracks in this album that are actually good if the band had stayed straight up in the thrashing manner approach. Tunes like Gods of Violence and Totalitarian Terror have in point of fact obtained the nature of the early kickass attitude of the band when we talk about the number of appreciable old school thrash guitar riffages that those tracks owns. On the other hand, the melodic parts of both tracks had totally wrecked these two potential masterpieces.

To end this review, Gods of Violence is one of those records that shows that Kreator is departing away from their old school roots which accorded them their legendary status in the extreme music genre. The band clearly sent a message to the fans that they want to be on the safe side by advertising cheesy new materials that are saleable for the kids of this generation. Man, I just expected more from Kreator about this release. This is a nonviolent and unobjectionable album for a legendary band who once put out classics like Endless Pain, Extreme Aggression and Coma of Souls.

Originally Written For The Grungy Land Blog

Kreator releases another album.

I know the phrase “Kreator releases another album” may be the most dismissive thing I have said in years, but lots of modern thrash albums just haven’t been doing anything for me lately. And, with the possible exception of Tankard, I’ve never been as infatuated with the Teutonic Thrash scene as other fans. Couple that with the lukewarm singles “Gods of Violence” premiered with, and I was not quite thrilled with Kreator’s new work. But something happened when I was listening to “Gods of Violence”... I actually started to like Kreator.

The album starts with the intro “Apocalypticon” which has this imposing, symphonic edge to it with a decent solo. Nothing too grand or haunting, but I thought it was a nice warm up. But once the intro explodes into “World War Now”, the album doesn’t let up. “World War Now” shows a level of speed and energy I haven’t heard from the thrash scene for a while. It’s refreshing to finally hear a thrash song with so much life. The drums and guitars working together in sonic unison to create a truly great song.

This album does have a more melodious edge than Kreator’s previous works and it definitely works in their benefit. “Army of Storms” has so much in the way of catchy riffs and a hook filled chorus, that it might as well be a long forgotten Iron Maiden track. “Hail to the Hordes” has a similar feel, drawing heavy influence from the Black Sabbath/Dio/Manowar era of classic metal. It doesn’t stick the landing as hard as “Army of Storms” but it also doesn’t drag on too long as a result.

In fact, this whole album is at its best when it isn’t being the blast-beat filled trash metal that made me despise Kreator in the first place. “Pleasure To Kill” does not hold up, get over it. All that aside, I ended up enjoying my time with this record, even though it feels like Kreator die-hards may not enjoy it as much for not being as evil and heavy as their old material.

While this album was certainly a surprise, there are some nitpicks I have with the album as a whole. I think Millie’s vocals are unique, creating an engaging yell and heavy snarl when necessary, but sometimes the overall production leaves his vocals swallowed by the noise of the music. Some of the tracks definitely do pull from the same bag of tricks, like “Fallen Brother”, “Side by Side”, and “Death Becomes My Light” but even when they do end up repeating themselves, the complexity and the absolute talent of Millie and Sami as they play is what makes them work. When Kreator’s classic metal sense rears around through the thrash, they transition so well and make every note feel very important and well executed.

Lyrically, the album could be a bit more diverse. There’s pretty much nothing new here in terms of perspective or style from previous thrash or even previous Kreator records. The horrors of war, satanism, it’s all pretty standard fare. And finally, the “Death Becomes My Light” closer would have had more impact had the last few songs not follow very similar patterns and styles, making the last quarter of the record sound kind of bland. I will say that the song has one of the better interludes on the entire record, however.

Overall, I was presently surprised by Kreator’s “Gods of Violence”. It certainly wasn’t enough to make me fall in love with Kreator, but in this drought of creativity and fun that is the modern thrash scene, “Gods of Violence” certainly delivers something entertaining.

Since the turn of the millennium, the triumvirate of Teutonic thrash metal have all been on pretty good form, with terrible albums happily absent. However, among the three, Kreator have drawn probably the greatest share of attention, not only for the praise that met Enemy of God and Phantom Antichrist, but also for the divided opinions that heralded Hordes of Chaos. Five years on from Phantom Antichrist, it’s possible to see Gods of Violence going either way, since the mixture of gritty thrash and more melodic material should sate hungry fans, though there are a few risks that might not be so palatable to all.

A certain trend that has developed in the post-millennial climate continues on Kreator’s new effort - namely, a further mixing of the band’s original savage tendencies with modern and melodic elements, something that is also to be witnessed on Sodom’s latest, Decision Day. The outsourcing of brutality has not gone so far as to make songs such as 'Hail to the Hordes' and 'World War Now' sound unlike Kreator exactly, although the catchy Swedish melodies and bouncy momentum of the former and the muscular hum of palm-muting and scrambling fills that propels the verses of the latter invite unexpected guests to the party. Aside from these flirtations with melodeath and the modern metal movement, there are hints of other left turns that reflect the time Kreator have spent honing these songs. The acoustic guitar and brief moments of sitar that open the title track, the respectful keys used in the intro to 'Lion with Eagle Wings', and some of the riff choices from 'Fallen Brother' and 'Gods of Violence' break new ground for the band, both in terms of instruments included and styles referenced.

On the other hand, this is still a vigorous thrash album for all the detours, while it is important to note that the surprising features are always details and never the focus. For any old school fan left looking askance at the souped-up modernity of 'World War Now', 'Totalitarian Terror' should provide a fast remedy, with special emphasis on the word fast. Other full-blooded thrashers include 'Lion with Eagle Wings' and the no-nonsense 'Side by Side', which offers a more hopeful message late in the album. Ultimately, it comes down to the pace of the riffing to ensure that Gods of Violence remains undoubtedly a Kreator album, something that is present to varying extents in almost every song. Added to which, there are solid riffs all over the place and a few special ones too, including those mentioned as different, while Mille Petrozza predictably covers topics of death, violence, and struggle with his impressively visceral roar. Nonetheless, the lyrical topics do present a minor negative aspect of the album, since the themes are now well-worn after 30 years of active service, plus the fact that Petrozza seems particularly fond of screaming out any given song’s title as often as possible, 'Satan Is Real' and 'Fallen Brother' proving the worst culprits.

As a statement of Kreator’s supremacy in the 21st century metal scene, Gods of Violence straddles the divide between being simply another signature set of songs and an intentional development towards new ground. The steadfastly thrashy underbelly solidifies the Germans’ place as one of the most consistent and respected of the ‘80s crew, while the modern touches provide some excitement and variation, pushed to the fore as they are by Jens Bogren’s meaty production. There is hardly a question of filler material, although the first two thirds of the album carries the most distinctive compositions, of which 'Hail to the Hordes' and 'Totalitarian Terror' sit proud as not only among the best of Kreator’s output but certainly some of their catchiest and most memorable.

Originally written for The Metal Observer - http://www.metal-observer.com/3.o/review/kreator-gods-of-violence/

Normally I don't like to jump on the "immediately review new releases" bandwagon, but sometime's there are exceptions. After being greatly disappointed with Testament's Brotherhood Of The Snake, having this record absolutely blow my mind was truly a relief. To say it's way stronger than their previous release would be a stretch, but Kreator have always been one of those bands that have matured with every album, ever since abandoning the noisy, stripped down, '80s raw thrash sound. This could not be anymore evident in Gods Of Violence.

For starters, this is probably the most melodic that the band has ever gotten, even in the heavier tracks. This record displays some great, yet subtle use of some power metal riffs, but you have to pay close enough attention to catch it. It's most evident in my favorite track, "Totalitarian Terror". Their ability to fuse this into their sound, yet remain true to the aggressive, harsh style proves this release worthy of respect, whether you dig it or not. There's still long, lung killing shrieks, surrounded by hailing blast beat drumming and riffs that are nice and sharp. The production on this record could not be any cleaner, with little to no extra noise. That being said though, the bass could have played a better role on here, which would have definitely brought this up even higher.

Most of the song structure is mature and clearly took some thought. A lot of the content focuses on actual world problems, and for the most part doesn't attack religion on every other track. Tracks like "World War Now", "Gods Of Violence" and "Army Of Storms" contain some of the heaviest moments, with outstanding solos and above average, heavy riffing, as well as Millie's greatest vocal work, and it all fits together perfectly. At the same time, they also offer us some slower tracks near the end, such as "Side By Side" and "Death Becomes My Light", where we get to witness his singing voice, a rare occurrence, but always neat. It's deep and devious, yet depicts his emotions very well. My only issue with the writing is how corny the track "Satan Is Real" is, as the chorus is repetitive, and it would appear they tried too hard with this one. Not a horrible track, but definitely sticks out slightly. As a whole release, this is a solid album to kick off 2017, and definitely brings out some ability in Kreator that wasn't revealed in the past (or at least not as prominently). Hard kicks and complex licks are not abandoned, and with a very small amount of flaws, I was not disappointed.

If there ever was a physical manifestation of 'worth the wait' - Gods of Violence must surely be it! It has been almost five years since the kings of teutonic thrash, the almighty Kreator, dropped their previous masterpiece Phantom Antichrist. Now it appears they have succeeded in overthrowing that album's podium place. Our favourite Germans have crafted a triumphant work that expands upon the melodic death metal influences of their post-2000 output, but remains 100% Kreator through and through. Buckle up - this is one hell of a ride...

The noble march of "Apocalypticon" sets the tone with its menacing pomp, before blasting into what is possibly the best opening song in Kreator's calatogue. "World War Now" is an explosive thrash-fest, which furiously rockets out of the speakers. Equally full of drama and malice, it's sure to become a live staple. It's also a great example of one of Kreator's characteristic traits: complex riffs that extend twice as long as one expects before repeating. This method of riff-writing keeps their material fresh ten, twenty, thirty years on.

The production is top notch. Perhaps the bass doesn't get the breathing space it deserves, but the drums are thunderous, the guitar tone is just the right amount of meaty before becoming sludgy, and the vocals are packed with volume. Mille Petrozza only seems to get better with age and, despite a weak delivery on 2009's Hordes Of Chaos, now spits every syllable with both rage and nobility. Just listen to the opening scream of "Totalitarian Terror" - he means fucking business!

Lyrically, this is a surprisingly positive album for a band whose most famous songs include "Ripping Corpse" and "Endless Pain". It's refreshing to hear lyrics such as 'I'll be by your side' and 'cherish all remaining days' - they add an air of elegance to an already well-crafted album. This is no clearer than in the triumphant "Hail To The Hordes" (ooh those bagpipes. Glorious!). There's even a beautifully-placed slice of German in the melancholic "Fallen Brother".

There are few albums where I can say every song is a highlight - but Gods Of Violence is absolutely jammed with substantial songs that each add a little something of variety, whilst remaining stylistically loyal. High-speed thrashers like "World War Now" and "Lion With Eagle Wings" contrast beautifully with the mid-tempo stompers such as "Satan Is Real" and "Side By Side". There's even a seven-minute epic, "Death Becomes My Light", which sounds almost like what Iron Maiden would if they were a German thrash metal band. Admittedly, "Army Of Storms" became an instant favourite of mine due to its Coma Of Souls-esque riffs and hammering chorus.

There's absolutely no reason not to own this CD. The digipak contains an amazing DVD of their set at Wacked 2014, and some stunning artwork from Jan Meininghaus. It's still January, so I shouldn't really be thinking of what will go into my 'top 10 albums of the year', however - Gods Of Violence has set a bar, not just for thrash metal, but for all heavy music in 2017. Fueled by animosity, packed with expansive thrash classics, and victorious on a grand scale - Kreator show the young and old crowd how thrash metal should sound in the modern era.

After the outstanding Phantom Antichtist that mixed furious thrash metal and melodic heavy metal in a balanced way, Gods of Violence offers a very similar style without having the consistent high-quality songwriting of the predecessor. The first half of the record mostly offers formulaic thrash metal that one has heard over and over again from this band while the second part is much more epic and melodic but is often lacking memorable passages.

The band seems to offer a few experiments here and there in form of short piano and orchestral passages and bagpipe sounds or with extended instrumental introductions and unusual bridges with poem recitations or even with some unexpected German lyrics. However, these ideas often feel like unnecessary gimmicks since they rarely add anything to the different songs and are much too short to elaborate towards something more consistent or interesting. This even concerns the better tunes on the album. Let's take ''Hail to the Hordes'' as an appropriate example. This is an enjoyable homage to the fans and has an anthemic atmosphere that will surely work much better in concert than on this studio release. The bagpipe sounds played by In Extremo's Yellow Pfeifer are performed as perfectly as we are used of him in the bridge. However, they don't add anything to the song and feel completely out of place.

The repetitive ''us against the world'' topics also get quite redundant and show that this band is running out of ideas lyrically. The vocals sound as they have sounded over the past three decades and offer an angry mixture of poignant screams and nervous up-tempo parts where they often sound out of rhythm. The pronunciation of the lyrics also got worse over the past few years. The thrash riffs feel rehashed an uninspired. They recall records such as Enemy of God and Hail to the Hordes without adding anything new to this style. The rhythm section remains formulaic throughout the entire release and is neither brutal enough to go back to the band's roots nor diversified enough to add anything new to the band sound.

The only truly positive point of this album is Sami Yli-Sirniö's guitar play. He pulls off some emotional melodic leads as in the mellower parts of ''Gods of Violence'' which starts promisingly to fall flat or in the mysterious overture of ''Lion with Eagle Wings''. He also pulls off a few excellent solos as in the otherwise average ''Satan Is Real'' or in the Japanese bonus track ''Earth Under the Sword'' which clearly isn't as great as the epic ''Iron Destiny'' five years earlier.

To keep it short, you might be impressed by this record if you have never heard of the band before. If you are familiar with Kreator's more recent material, you will realize that Gods of Violence is basically a mixture of the last three albums and offers more of the same without adding anything new to the mixture. Thanks to a few solid individual tracks like the fan anthem ''Hail to the Hordes'', the melodic heavy metal track ''Lion with Eagle Wings'' and the melancholic ''Fallen Brother'' which is probably the most creative tune on here, this album is still overall enjoyable. The additional live concert that comes along with the limited edition of this release also rates this release up. However, Gods of Violence is a minor disappointment after the strong Phantom Antichrist. Personally, I won't purchase this record because I know Kreator can do much better than that.

Gods of Violence reminds me a whole lot of Sodom's latest record in how it tries pretty effectively to be everything for nearly every generation or tier of the band's audience, and it does so with a close approximation of success. Granted, if you're pining for a tip of the hat to Endorama, Outcast, Renewal or Cause for Conflict then you might be largely left out in the cold, but that would at best comprise only a literal handful of listeners on this entire planet, and Kreator would be wise to do so if they want to pump up their base. They also don't delve back into the primacy of their demos or debut. However, if you're interested in hearing an amalgam of their later 80s, involved riffing patterns with the melodic overtures of records like Phantom Antichrist and Violent Revolution, all wrapped up in the accessible thrashing echo chamber of an Enemy of God, then this should fit rather snugly to your interests. Hell, even the TITLE here is drawn from some of those...

Yes, there are a handful of riff progressions here which certainly reflect back upon records like Terrible Certainty, Extreme Aggression and Coma of Souls, but they're all trussed up in an elegant penchant for melody which alleviates some of the sinister evocations of Mille's raving, barking vocals, giving a more uplifting, anthemic feel to even the harshes thrashing. This is actually most prominent in the architecture of the leads, which are generally pretty feel-good to the point that even some of the rhythm guitars backing them shift to a more accessible direction than the verse riffing. There's no question a level of nerdy progressive metal has infiltrated the band's sense for extremity, much like it did on Phantom Antichrist, but one could make a strong case that the band has reached 'peak proficiency' here, since the sheer number of notes and leads flitting around the 11 tracks and 52 minutes seems to exceed anything that has come before it. Bound up in the elegant, slick production values which make it effortless to experience every individual breath or note, Gods of Violence might not live up to its title in terms of the expected brutality, but it's one frenetic record with plenty to take in across a good number of listens.

Personal favorites here included "Army of Storms" and "Lion With Eagle Wings", just for striking that perfect balance of aggression and melody, and in the latter case even providing me with something that felt fresh and new in the Kreator lexicon. And Gods does that quite a lot...for every callback riff there's another here which simply has never existed before in their catalog, and while it's not going to prove very welcome for folks who feel like the band died off or sold out after Pleasure to Kill, I'm not ready to give up on the notion that these veterans have something left to give us as they continue to forge on through another decade. For a band over 30 years into its existence, this material doesn't entirely rest entirely on its laurels, lazily subsisting on nostalgia alone. Rather, it's inspired. Mille still sounds great, and the clarity with which his vocals can adhere to the more melodic guitars behind them is a real stunner. Drumming is efficient, and the bass is fine, but really this is ALL about those intricate, harried guitar lines, and how you feel about that will make or break your experience. So far, the songs don't rank among the most memorable in their canon, and no amount of busyness or proficiency can really make up for that, but Gods of Violence is enjoyable from fore to aft while I wait for whatever they summon up next.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com