Kreator

Kreator was formed in 1982, but throughout the first two years, the band was mainly preoccupied with changing its name. They started out as Tyrant then, not long after, changed it to Tormentor, only to find out that there already was a band that went by that name. Finally, in 1984, they decided to go by Kreator.

Once the name business had been settled, the band quickly started working on the music. In 1985, they released their debut album Endless Pain, which quite quickly earned the respect of the thrash metal scene and made Kreator an important part of the German metal underground. Just a year later, the band came back with their sophomore album, “Pleasure to Kill” – which today is considered to be potentially the biggest classic of European thrash metal. The ferocious brutality and the acute directness of the songs made the 1986 record a fixed point of reference for legions of future black and death metalheads.

The latter part of the 80s was an incredibly auspicious period for Kreator. The following full-length albums, i.e. “Terrible Certainty and Extreme Aggression”, only boosted the band’s status. Said albums had that thrash sound, yet they stood out with their much higher production value and sophisticated arrangements. In 1990, the band released “Coma of Souls”, (considered by most fans to be the magnum opus of the band) which produced perhaps their biggest hit, “People of the Lie.”

Unfortunately, beyond “Coma of Souls”, the 90s were not kind to Kreator. Albums such as “Renewal or Outcast” saw the band change directions, offering songs that were darker, slower, and flirting with industrial – an offering that the fans consistently rejected, accusing the band of softening up to appease mainstream listeners. The climax of the tension that grew between the band and their audience was the 1999 Endorama, the band’s only album exploring the vicinity of gothic metal.

Happily, the band entered the 21st century with a bang. In 2001, “Violent Revolution” was brought into the light – a definite thrash metal homecoming of Kreator, though with reverberating echoes of melodic death metal. The devotees of the band’s old-school sound quickly fell back in love with them and since then the band has once again been on the rise, showcasing their classic metal craftsmanship. The band’s latest record is “Hate über alles”.