KREATOR Frontman MILLE PETROZZA On Politics In Music - "I Think There's Enough Politics In Every Day Life; I Don't Want To Bore People With My Views"
January 23, 2018, 6 years ago
David Slavković at Ultimate Guitar recently caught up with Kreator frontman Mille Petrozza. Following is an excerpt from the interview.
UG: Did the current situation in the world influence your songwriting? Like, for instance, 'World War Now.'
Petrozza: "To be honest, we don't want to be.. Of course, we always had political issues in our songs, but we don't want to become this political metal band because I think there's enough politics in every day life. And I don't want to bore people with my views. People that know Kreator know my views anyway so we try to have the lyrics on this album more general. The whole concept of the record is Gods of Violence, it talks about how evil came in to the world and it's still in the world and it's still very present. Of course in politics, but also in other things. So we didn't want write a political record even though there are some political subjects. 'Totalitarian Terror' and 'World War Now' are two good examples."
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Thrash legends Kreator have announced that four of their classic ‘90s era albums will be reissued via BMG on February 23rd.
Formed in Essen, Germany in 1984, Kreator are arguably the most influential and successful European thrash metal band ever, racking up multi-million album sales over the years. Kreator fused Metallica's thrash innovations with Venom's proto-black metal imagery and is often credited with helping to pioneer the death metal and black metal genres. The band’s style has varied over their storied career, from a Venom-inspired speed metal sound, to thrash metal, and a period of transitioning from thrash to industrial metal and gothic metal throughout the 1990s, from which these reissues are drawn. In the early 2000s, Kreator returned to their more straight up thrash sound, which has continued to their most recent album, 2017’s Gods Of Violence, which charted Top 20 in 10 countries including a #1 slot in Germany.
The four albums being reissued are Coma Of Souls (originally released in 1990), Renewal (1992), Cause For Conflict (1995), and Outcast (1997). The records have been remastered by Andy Pearce (Black Sabbath, Voivod, Motorhead, Anthrax) and will be available in multiple formats including coloured vinyl. Coma Of Souls and Outcast will now include previously unreleased, bonus live tracks, recorded in Germany in 1990 and at 1998’s Dynamo Open Air festival. Renewal and ‘Cause For Conflict also have three bonus tracks each. More details, full tracklistings and pre-order links are below.
Coma Of Souls - 2CD Mediabook & Triple Gatefold 3LP (Transparent Red Vinyl) & Digital
Kreator's fifth album, Coma Of Souls, came towards the end of the thrash metal explosion of the 1980’s and retained their classic thrash sound whilst combining more melodic elements of classic metal bands like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. Critically acclaimed by both fans and the press, Coma Of Souls was a strong, firm step forward for the band - it proved they weren’t content to sit and wallow in the thrash back waters but were determined to move into a new decade with a bold, thrusting sound.
Tracklisting:
"When The Sun Burns Red"
"Coma Of Souls"
"People Of The Lie"
"World Beyond"
"Terror Zone"
"Agents Of Brutality"
"Material World Paranoia"
"Twisted Urges"
"Hidden Dictator"
"Mental Slavery"
Bonus Tracks (Live In Fürth, Germany - 06/12/1990)
"When The Sun Burns Red"
"Betrayer"
"Terrible Certainty"
"Extreme Aggression"
"Coma Of Souls"
"People Of The Lie"
"Choir Of The Damned"
"The Pestilence"
"Toxic Trace"
Drum Solo
"Terror Zone"
"Pleasure To Kill"
"Flag Of Hate"
"Agents Of Brutality"
"Riot of Violence"
"Tormentor"
Pre-order links below:
Coma Of Souls
Renewal - 1CD Mediabook & Gatefold 2LP (Transparent Green Vinyl) & Digital
Kreator’s sixth album, Renewal was originally released in October 1992 and took fans a little by surprise. While the band had established a reputation as a formidable thrash metal act, this time they had deviated from their comfort zone. Injecting both industrial and hardcore sounds helped make this one of the most fascinating and intriguing extreme albums of the era. At a time when the entire cutting edge scene was shifting, thanks to the emergence of grunge, Kreator proved they were still ahead of their peers.
Tracklisting:
"Winter Martyrium"
"Renewal"
"Reflection"
"Brainseed"
"Karmic Wheel"
"Realitäskontrolle"
"Zero To None"
"Europe After The Rain"
"Depression Unrest"
Bonus Tracks:
"Winter Martyrium" (Rare Version)
"Trauma"
"Europe After The Rain" (Remix)
Pre-order links below:
Renewal
Cause For Conflict - 1CD Mediabook & Gatefold 2LP (Blue Vinyl) & Digital
Originally released in July 1995, Kreator’s seventh album Cause For Conflict took a different musical path again. While not abandoning the experimental nuances which had been so crucial to Renewal, there was something of a return to more familiar territory this time. Both "Lost" and "Isolation" were released as singles and the passage of time has given Cause For Conflict a sense of belonging, because there’s little doubt it remains one of the bands most undervalued records.
Tracklisting:
"Prevail"
"Catholic Despot"
"Progressive Proletarians"
"Crisis Of Disorder"
"Hate Inside Your Head"
"Bomb Threat"
"Men Without God"
"Lost"
"Dogmatic"
"Sculpture Of Regret"
"Celestial Deliverance"
"Isolation"
Bonus Tracks:
"Suicide In Swamps"
"Limits Of Liberty"
"State Oppression"
Pre-order links below:
Cause For Conflict
Outcast - 2CD Mediabook & Gatefold 2LP (Transparent Orange Vinyl) & Digital
With hindsight and a sense of history, Outcast is one of Kreator's most inventive and important albums. The gargantuan-watt gladiators’ eighth studio release was again different to anything they’d done in the past, during a time when metal was in turmoil due to the explosion of grunge and nu-metal. The title Outcast was appropriate for how the band felt in the late 1990’s and when this record was released in July 1997, it proved they were still an exciting, individual, and focused band.
Tracklisting:
"Leave This World Behind"
"Phobia"
"Forever"
"Black Sunrise"
"Nonconformist"
"Enemy Unseen"
"Outcast"
"Stronger Than Before"
"Ruin Of Life"
"Whatever It May Take"
"Alive Again"
"Against The Rest"
"A Better Tomorrow"
Bonus Tracks (Live At Dynamo Open Air 1998):
"Intro: Dr. Wagner, Part 3"
"Terror Zone"
"Lost"
"Leave This World Behind"
"Phobia"
"Black Sunrise"
"Choir Of The Damned"
"Pleasure To Kill"
"Whatever It May Take"
"Extreme Aggression"
"Renewal"
Pre-order links below:
Outcast
