Thrash metal’s “big four”, the ones who originally set the genre rolling, are, famously, Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax. These are American bands. In Europe, another band has a decent claim. They are Germany’s Kreator, whose early work, particularly 1986’s Pleasure to Kill, boasts venomous attack the equal of any peer. Decades later, their 16th studio album sees them offer similar velocity, if with more melodic finesse.
For Kreator, wider appreciation was a long time coming. Their global breakthrough came with 2005’s Enemy of God (their 11th album!), and they’ve since maintained success, even topping the album charts in their homeland. They’ve never cracked the UK, outside the live arena, and their music remains an acquired taste. But fans of metal that balances visceral headbang with polished entertainment will not be disappointed by Krushers of the World.
Part of Kreator’s appeal is frontman Mille Petrozza’s ability to combine communal celebration with over-the-top lyrics of horror and darkness. On this album, the ballistic riffing is sometimes trimmed with symphonic aspects, particularly “Psychotic Imperator”, a proper demented thrash with Wagnerian operatic backing vocals. Where they used to rely on pummelling brutality, there’s now guitar-harmonic poppiness, akin to Iron Maiden, sometimes alongside anthemic choruses. These occasionally veer towards terrace anthem, most enjoyably on “Satanic Anarchy” and “Blood of Our Blood”.
Kreator’s lyrics are extravagantly purple yet have a certain something. Try this one from “Combatants”: “Tearing down the beauty of diversity/Planting dread inside the heart/Dissidents come forth, ascending from suburbia/Toxicity will never be the end nor the start.”
Like Black Sabbath and many metal acts, Kreator rose from grim industrial heartlands, in their case the Ruhr Valley. Their early work contains dogged, unreconstituted rage derived from these origins. Many years down the line, Petrozza and co. have recalibrated to something more accessible, from the slow (by their standards, at least) headbang of the title track to the clobbering “Deathscream”. Krushers of the World is deliberately not for everyone but, for those up for the ride, it’s strangely life-affirming.
Below: Watch the video for "Satanic Anarchy" by Kreator
