siLLy puPPy While many old school thrash metal bands are having a hard time keeping their old school flames a-burning, certain bands sound like they never had it blow out in the first place. While the big four of thrash metal: Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer may be around well into the 21st century, they are quite inconsistent in their abilities and commitment to pumping out a quality product that sounds as passionate as what they released in their 1980s heyday. That doesn’t seem to be the case for the leader of the “Big Teutonic Four” namely KREATOR who debuted all the way back in 1985 and has maintained a steady stream of quality thrash metal releases even if they at times took the liberty of straying into goth or whatever they chose to confront. However beginning with 2001’s “Violent Revolution,” the band has released a few stellar high quality thrash metal albums that although less raw and more melodic than their 80s origins, still pack a powerful punch and retain the passion that cast them as one of Germany’s most highly regarded thrash metal acts of the ages.

GODS OF VIOLENCE, the band’s 14th studio album may pick right up where the predecessor “Phantom Antichrist” left off in compositional style and recognizable musical delivery but KREATOR continues well into the 21st century with a passion for their craft that is as admirable as the first phase of their thrash metal career only perhaps a bit more fine-tuned for modern day production and hybridization with a more melodic molding that actually puts them in the same camp as modern day melodic death metal bands like Amon Amarth and Arch Enemy. The band as usual is led by the thrash metal vocal style of Mille Petrozza offering his dual guitar assault with Sami Yli-Sirniö on GODS OF VIOLENCE as is the familiar frenetic drum assault of Jürgen ‘Ventor’ Reil in cahoots with Christian Giesler’s bass talents. While the filthy metal distortion and early thrash metal feel is in full effect, the mixing and production skills of the Jens Bogren, Ted Jensesn and Johan Örnborg team offer the most pleasant modern recording processes of any extreme metal album of modern times.

Like many old school thrash bands that are like cockroaches and refuse to go away, KREATOR continues to capture newer audiences with their fierce no nonsense approach to furiously well-crafted old school thrash metal. While the originality factor has clearly never been KREATOR’s biggest playing card, they do however offer an uncanny string of consistency that never fails to deliver exactly what is expected of them complete with very competent compositions that while having dipped more into the melodic side of metal never ceases to capture the renegade zeitgeist spirit of reckless abandon that KREATOR exhibited from day one when their debut album “Endless Pain” contributed to the overall blueprints of not only the thrash metal scene but also of significant value to the black and death metal scenes as well. Old school thrash bands releasing new albums in the 21st century is very hit and miss for me as there seems to be a fine line between business as usual and adding enough oomf to create a relevant listening after so much evolution in the metal universe.

KREATOR, for me, offers an outstanding retro experience of old school thrash while offering the modern day accoutrements of production and ever so slight evolutionary factors in their own sound. A masterpiece this is not, but a pleasant listening experience while others fail, it is. What really sells me on the continued existence of KREATOR is just how passionate they seem to feel about the music. They never once seem tired and bored with what they are releasing. GODS OF VIOLENCE could easily have been released by a younger band who has a KREATOR worship fetish but in this case it is the band themselves who never let that flame flicker out for even a second. While it is true that the band frightened off fans in the 90s after experimenting with their sound and seem to have found a rather formulaic approach to their music ever since their return to a predictable melodic thrash sound, the fact that they can nail that sound so effortlessly both compositionally and in performance ensures that they will have a loyal following for quite some time. I, for one, am totally on board and eagerly await the hopefully many future releases to come.

UMUR "Gods of Violence" is the 14th full-length studio album by German thrash metal act Kreator. The album was released through Nuclear Blast Records in January 2017. It´s the successor to "Phantom Antichrist" from 2012. Kreator are in institution in European thrash metal, and although they had a period in the 90s with a drop in popularity as a consequence of straying maybe a bit too far from the sound many of their fans expected from them, the release of "Violent Revolution" in 2001 signaled a return to their trademark thrash metal sound. Or at least a return to a similar style to what they played in the late 80s/early 90s. Each subsequent album release have continued and slightly expanded on that style of melodic oriented thrash metal.

"Gods of Violence" is no different as it pretty much continues where "Phantom Antichrist (2012)" left off. There are fast-paced thrash metal tracks like "World War Now" and "Totalitarian Terror", but also mid-paced, heavy, and more epic sounding tracks like "Fallen Brother" and "Death Becomes My Light" on the album. Kreator have written 11 tracks, which are all instantly recognisable and quite catchy. While there is generally great focus on razor sharp thrash metal riffs and rhythms, and Mille Petrozza´s piercing raw vocals (he delivers a couple of clean vocal parts on the album too), Kreator also focus a lot on melodic guitar themes and solos (and there are quite a bit of acoustic work on the album too). This is at times very melodic music, and I hear an obvious melodeath influence here and there. Not that the music on "Gods of Violence" is death metal by any means, but there are many similar traits in the way the guitar themes are composed and played.

"Gods of Violence" is a well produced album, featuring a powerful, clear, and detailed sound production, which suits the music perfectly. Kreator are as always a professional and tight playing band too, so upon conclusion "Gods of Violence" is yet another high quality release by the Germans. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

Nightfly When I first heard Kreator’s Pleasure To Kill back in the mid-eighties I was blown away by its sheer intensity and speed. It may have lacked finesse but made up for it with sheer aggression. As far as my memory goes I don’t remember hearing a more extreme slab of metal at the time and that’s putting it up against the likes of Slayer who were the benchmark for full on thrash as far as I was concerned. Since then I’ve bought some and even missed some of Kreator’s albums but when I hear them they rarely disappoint. Forward to 2017 and Gods Of Violence is their fourteenth album. I was pretty impressed with 2012’s Phantom Antichrist – like Testament and Exodus here was one of the thrash originals that could still deliver as good if not better than they ever did. Gods Of Violence is another winner. Similar in feel, if perhaps not quite as intense it’s equally strong.

After the short intro piece Apocalyticon, World War Now kicks in with its ferocious riffing, a reassuring statement of intent. These days though it’s not all about sheer speed and the tempo varies here and indeed throughout the album. Something of a benefit I feel but fear not, this is still one hell of an aggressive album – check out Totalitarian Terror if proof is needed. Mille Petrozza’s snarling vocals are still incredibly strong and one of the best in thrash. Likewise drummer Ventor, there from the start with only a short break is still a force to be reckoned with. These songs, the title track being the perfect example, also contain plenty of melody – there’s even a touch of Iron Maiden at times, which to their credit takes nothing away from the ferocity and also feature some stunning guitar solos too. Mille Petrozza and second guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö are certainly the equal of most guitar partnerships in thrash metal. Even when they slow things down like on Fallen Brother they still pack a considerable punch.

Overall then Gods Of Violence is another strong addition to an already glorious back catalogue of benchmark thrash that’s sure to please fans of the band. A great start to the year for thrash metal.