Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 27/01/2017
Label: Nuclear Blast
There are so many great riffs, solos, hooks and
vocals over the course of the record that there is absolutely nothing to
complain about here. Kreator have produced another very worthy entry into their
impressive back catalogue. Fans of their later work will love what is on offer
here as it is a continuation of their most recent and very impressive
albums. This is a hooky, vicious, well
produced thrash record which is every bit as good as anything which has come
out of America
“Gods of Violence” CD//DD//LP track listing:
1. Apocalypticon (1:06)
2. World War Now (4:28)
3. Satan Is Real (4:38)
4. Totalitarian Terror (4:45)
5. Gods of Violence (5:51)
6. Army Of Storms (5:09)
7. Hail to the Hordes (4:02)
8. Lion with Eagle Wings (5:22)
9. Fallen Brother (4:37)
10. Side By Side (4:19)
11. Death Becomes My Light (7:26)
The Review:
Kreator, as oft noted by me, are
my favourite of the Teutonic Thrash Grosse Drei (oder Vier?!).. and I like the
others a great deal too! It is with some excitement, then, that I pressed play
to listen to the latest offering from these giants of the genre. If you have
been following Kreator's
renaissance period (that is to say, after the 1990's) then you will know that
gone is the uncontrolled violence of “Pleasure to Kill” and “Terrible
Certainty” and in its place is a controlled aggression and, whisper it
softly, elements of melody.
After
the suitably apocalyptic intro, “World War Now” opens in a thrashing
fury, tempered by the aforementioned elements and even a section involving
acoustic guitars prior to a shredding solo. Essentially, then, this is a direct
successor to “Phantom Antichrist” and “Hordes of Chaos” on first
impressions. The production is state of the art, the band sound fired up and
relentlessly vicious.
“Satan Is Real” is something of a hooky “single” (if such things were relevant
these days) but is still very heavy indeed, just without the out and out speed
that is often associated with the band. After this strong start, the record
does not let up; the title track is anthemic, “Totalitarian Terror” is
thrashy in the extreme, “Army of Storms” is one of those mid
paced rockers that sounds faster than it actually is- nice lead work on this
one- until it reaches thrash pace, that is. With that the record is over the
half way point. There are eleven tracks here, of fairly uniform length (barring
the closer) and the whole album demonstrates that Kreator are nothing less than
masters of their chosen craft.
In
all honesty, there is nothing weak here; you get prime latter day era Kreator.
Tracks such as “Hail to the Hordes” (a nod to the fans) and “Lion
With Eagle Wings” are as anthemic as they are punchy and well arranged.
Kreator
have essentially traded grit for polish in their advancing years and it is a
smart move on the band's part. They have retained their credibility and
retained their heaviness and elements of their aggressive approach without
becoming a parody of their younger selves (no mean feat) and they remain the
very best of the German thrash bands, in my view. Even though I have mentioned
polish, hooks and melody here the band are never less than very heavy indeed. “Fallen
Brother” may have a big chorus, but Mille delivers it in gratingly
harsh style- no harmonies here.
“Side By
Side”
delivers the rather inclusive message that Kreator are known for, again in anthemic
style, while the closing “Death Becomes My Light” reaches epic
heights over the course of its close to seven and a half minutes. There are so
many great riffs, solos, hooks and vocals over the course of the record that
there is absolutely nothing to complain about here. Kreator have produced
another very worthy entry into their impressive back catalogue. Fans of their
later work will love what is on offer here as it is a continuation of their
most recent and very impressive albums. This
is a hooky, vicious, well produced thrash record which is every bit as good as
anything which has come out of America
“Gods
of Violence” is available now
