KREATOR - Hordes of Chaos
December 23, 2008, 16 years ago
(SPV)
Hardcore/punk and thrash have always been intertwined, no matter how much we metalheads bristle at the notion. After a pair of stellar albums, including Enemy Of God, one of the most vicious and anti-religious rants of the last decade (black metal, ha!), Mille Petrozza appears to have switched gears (slightly) seeking to showcase the musicianship within Kreator: traditional metal melodies, including twin leads like in ‘Amok Run’, ‘To The Afterborn’ and ‘Demon Prince’, numerous guitar solos, and the pounding drums of Ventor on a Slayerish ‘Warcurse’ (with the mainman virtually singing a cappella!). Paradoxically, the guitarist also embraces the simplistic, repetitive shouted/barked vocals of 'core (‘Radical Resistance’) and a greater emphasis on chugging, mid-tempo numbers. Since this warrants a North American tour (April/May ’09), I fully support it. Besides, it would have been difficult, nay impossible, to outdo the vitriolic brutality on Enemy Of God. So why try? The title cut is energetic, yet wanes in the face of ‘Violent Revolution’ and ‘Enemy Of God’, lofty company to attempt to uphold. Of the nine proper tracks (there’s a 55 second ‘Corpses Of Liberty’ acoustic instrumental), six are under 4:15 and the closing ‘Demon Prince’, at 5:16, is the longest tune. Lyrically, Petrozza's favourite whipping boys of religion, war and political corruption are still intact. It is Kreator, after all!
