KREATOR
At last! The German gods who had, for about a decade, slipped from the throne of Thrash Metal greatness and edged into the experimental realm of progression and standardized Metal, now return with the album that everyone has been waiting for.KREATOR have battled with an identity crisis for 10 years now. We've heard so many changes in the band's music during the 1990's that it was virtually impossible to predict what the band would hit you with next. I am happy to say to those of you who, like me, were married to the band of the 1980's, that KREATOR have indeed returned to their roots. Violent Revolution is the album that should have succeeded 1990's Coma Of Souls. In fact, the two albums are so similar in sound and style that one easily forgets everything that separates these two releases.
So what is new on the KREATOR resume? The band are again back to form with 12 thrashing tracks that are heavier than ever. As stated, the similarity to Coma Of Souls is strong with the exception that this time around the band have built in more melodic and technical elements, some that have a flavor of IRON MAIDEN. Mille Petrozza is again back to his shrieking self and is as effective as he has ever been. The speed element also makes a strong return, though this is certainly not the fastest KREATOR material in the band's arsenal. The aggression is again fueled with heavy, thrash-laden riffs, though in totality they are not quite on par with the strength of Coma Of Souls. There are even times when I worried that KREATOR had been away from this style for so long that they had lost some measure of ability in the songwriting category. That is to say that some riffs seem almost too obvious and lack the creativity of the 80's material. Still, this album has plenty of catchy components to it and repeated listens seem to yield a more addictive experience. The winning edge to Violent Revolution is helped along by the monster production work of Andy Sneap who has done a magnificent job of resurrecting the band's very early 1990's sound, ala Coma Of Souls. As is the case on most KREATOR albums, the title track seems to garner the most attentiveness from the band's songwriting talents. New guitarist Sami Yli Sirnio is more than an efficient replacement for the vacated Tommy Veterreli whose amazing playing abilities were never fully utilized to begin with during his tenure with the band. Violent Revolution is simply the real KREATOR like you know them best; aggressive and thrashy with little compromise.
With new releases by KREATOR, DESTRUCTION and the upcoming release by SODOM, Germany again reigns strong on the Thrash Metal throne. KREATOR are welcomed back to the trinity and may hold the upper hand when the smoke clears after the nearing tour that features all three of these titans. The earth shall moan.
