Kreator, the legends of German thrash, released their 11th full length studio album in January 2005. As the cover artwork portends, the band have created a beast of a record. However, 'Enemy of God' is surprisingly melodic, but don't let that blind yourself.

Kreator continue in the way of their previous album, 'Violent Revolution' (2001), meaning that 'Enemy of God' is both modern sounding yet rich in tradition. The album is music-wise varying, but totally Kreator. It sounds as German as possible, just like when you listen to Iron Maiden and see English panoramas (if you don't let yourself be carried away by the lyrics, that is). Guitarist/vocalist band leader Mille Petrozza has penned some truly marvellous songs. Kreator's trademark fast, shredding riffing is often accompanied by contagious melodies, which range from eerie and downright evil to beautiful. Yeah, you read it right, but there's no pussy kind of beauty to be heard here, it's just pure metal heaven. Opener 'Enemy of God' exhibits both metal thrashing mad and melodic Kreator. 'Impossible Brutality' stick to what its title says and refined diversified brutality continues until towards the end of 'World Anarchy', where Mille takes a turn towards the loathed 'Endorama' (1999) album. It's just a short, calmer part with Mille singing clean, only to explode into "total chaos" after 30 or so seconds. 'Dystopia' continues familiar dismal atmosphere the band is so well known for. 'Voices of the Dead' brings a short breather in form of beautiful moody intro part. The song is very catchy, consisting of many moods.

'Murder Fantasies' begins the second half of the album in more brutal note. You can't but believe when Mille screams "I want to kill you" on the song's chorus. Arch Enemy guitarist Michael Amott performed the second solo on the track and it's easy to tell it's him. 'When Death Takes It's Dominion' begins the march towards the end of the world in a fine way, but the progress is cut by 'One Evil Comes - A Million Follows', which happens to be the only shoddier, though not bad, song on this masterpiece of an album. 'Dying Race Apocalypse' takes the album back on the right track, as its intro, distantly reminding me of Metallica's 'Blackened' or something like that, starts and continues resembling of 'Voices...' variety and catchiness. 'Under a Total Blackened Sky' is the last thrashy piece before the monolithic 'The Ancient Plague'. This song is a monument of the end of the world as we know it. Featuring the full scale of moods, it's the first time as 'Renewal' (1992) comes to my mind. I'm going as far as naming 'The Ancient Plague' as the best Kreator song, ever. Welcome to a big bunch of songs! Generally, echoes of 'Coma of Souls' and 'Cause for Conflict' (1990 and 1995 respectively) can be heard on more brutal parts.

The Andy Sneap production is both clean and metallic, letting the different nuances flow on. And it is fucking heavy. Jürgen "Ventor" Reil does some able and very much varying skins-bashing, and his double kick drum work is awesome. Well, thrashing keeps you young, I guess. Long-time bass player Christian Giesler provides heavy companion into the rhythm section. The guitars (second guitar is played by Sami Yli-Sirniö, of Waltari fame) sound quite traditional in the thrash metal way, which is definitely pleasing to hear. However, they do not sound ripping, but more like punchy, filled with power. Mille's vocals are inhumanly throat ripping, even though not his "worst" work ever, and thoroughly unique. Whole band seemed to attain a mean streak in the studio.

Futuristic/alien (or just us humans in next 20 years?) cover art by Joachim Luetke is truly eye catching, and while 4-ways opening digipak is a real pain in the ass to operate, it's something worth to hunt down for. The title 'Enemy of God' can be apprehended in several ways. The lyrics handle aggressive religions (preaching and fanaticism taken to the level of terrorism, anyone?!), collapse of modern societies and killing. They are very cynical and above all, very well written. They'll make you think.

Bonus DVD is a nice extra, including some videos (both promotional and live), and "making ofs" on the album and 'Impossible Brutality' video clip. Fans will enjoy it, even though there's no much new material on it.

Kreator sound Kreator, but they've still managed to give 'Enemy of God' some dissenting qualities, when compared to the band's past releases. Safe but not safe. Familiarity versus melodicism. Maybe something like that. Check this out, if you are still wondering about should you do so! It's really worth it. And give it some time, please.

PS. The 'Revisited' edition includes a DVD including the band's Wacken Open Air 2006 concert (including 4 of the album's tracks in its track listing), 4 video clips and the whole album as DVD format with animated lyrics for everyone to have a karaoke night. Plus A5 size artwork. Cüül bonuses!!!

Rating: 8½ (out of 10)

Reviewed by Lane
03/12/2006 19:07

This vintage German thrash metal band was originally founded under the name of "Tormentor" for a few years before they changed it to "Kreator" in 1984. Two original members are left that include Miland "Mille" Petrozza on vocals/guitar and Jürgen "Ventor" Reil on drums. The newer members include Sami Yli-Sirnio on guitars and Christian "Speesy" Giesler on bass guitar. Their best lineup, however, would be the one that transpired during the 'Coma of Souls' (1990) era.

This is the eleventh full-length release for the band, which includes some of their greatest studio work since 'Violent Revolution' (2001). Aside from 'Coma of Souls', Kreator of the 1990's didn't strike me as much as their more recent releases. They switched back to focusing more on their older thrash metal roots. This is where the band shines the most. When they abdicated from their older and more aggressive approach, I lost interest.

'Enemy of God' features total melodic thrash metal guitar work that sticks with the listener in an utter and total amazement. In terms of analysing the entire album, it has its peaks and valleys in terms of their guitar executions. Some tracks are more memorable than others though this release is monumental for many reasons. The music features heavily tremolo picked guitar melodies, gallops, bar chords and so forth.

There are some songs that feature acoustic guitar parts and spoken words, but not in entirety. The release mostly deals with fiercely written thrash metal riffs, raging tempo changes, clean guitar parts and total originality to the musical writing. This newer band's approach has taken an energy-laden action by, once again, going back to their aggressive thrash metal writings.

The variety of this album is heavily orchestrated thanks to frontman "Mille" Petrozza. All of the songs captivate the listener, especially during the bridge and chorus parts and, most notably, during the title-track and 'Murder Fantasies'. The latter track includes Michael Amott, who exhibits a short, whammy bar lead guitar part. Thrash metal doesn't get executed much better than this.

Well produced and recorded with the instruments greatly mixed together. You can hear every guitar riff, guitar lead, bass guitar and drum work with an utmost clarity to it. They didn't seem to lack at all in this department. As far as the overall playing, the only thing that wasn't very effective were the guitar solos. That would be my most critical statement towards Kreator on the release. There was just no real innovation in this aspect.

The lyrical concepts focused mainly on death, religion, politics, war and terrorists. Some of the most intelligent words that I've heard from a band in regards to this category. The lyrics mesh well with the guitar parts. Aside from the brilliant guitar work, the lyrics come to a close second. The album doesn't feature any cover songs or live tracks. It's just under 60 minutes of ingenious thrash metal.

In summation, thrash metal doesn't get comprised much better than here on this phenomenal album. With so much originality and variety, Kreator belts out one of their best works out of their entire discography. As was previously mentioned. the lead guitar parts to each song are nothing spectacular. However, the melodic guitar riffs and lyrics are the highlights. If you're still sceptical, be sure to check out the title-track and 'Impossible Brutality' first then form a conclusion afterwards.

Rating: 8½ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Death 8699
02/12/2010 10:47