The Formative Years – Kreator
Formed forty years ago, Kreator was one of the first European thrash metal acts and three of their first four albums, i.e. Pleasure to Kill, Terrible Certainty, and Extreme Aggression, are widely considered metal classics that exerted an immense influence on what was to eventually become a genre of its own.
Each album showed the band musically progressing, especially as far as complex arrangements, slowdowns and variations of tempi are concerned and what started out with a sound heavily inspired by Venom-esque speed metal eventually evolved to thrash metal, accentuated by erratic guitar work and off-tempo beats.
What I have always loved about Kreator is that apart from the usually suspects from the realm of metal, they have not only been influenced by punk bands like The Exploited, GBH, Raw Power and D.R.I. but wearing those inspirations on their sleeves, which infused their overall sound with a vicious edge and a beautiful aura of chaos that most of their compatriots and San Francisco-based counterparts were missing.
Revisiting Kreator’s first albums today, it shows that they have stood the test of time masterfully with a rawness and a tenacity that makes it hard to believe that those recordings capturing the vitriolic onslaughts of sheer never ending, layered sonic violence were usually hammered out within a couple of days by three teenagers.
