It is strange to think that the genesis of this band goes all the way back to 1982, some thirty-five years ago now, although Mille Petrozza (guitar, vocals) believes that 1985 is the “true” starting point of the band. Over the years these guys have built a huge reputation of being at the forefront of German thrash metal alongside Sodom and Destruction, and they are showing no signs of slowing down just yet. What I did find interesting is just how polished they sound these days, far more mainstream than they used to, although I do wonder if that’s because the mainstream has shifted itself, as they are still brutal and riff hungry, just not as raw as they used to be.
Mille is joined by Sami Yli-Sirniö (guitars), Christian “Speesy” Giesler (bass) and co-founder Jürgen “Ventor” Reil (drums), yet this time they have brought in some guests who have added some finesse to the overall sound, most notably Fleshgod Apocalypse who lent a hand with the orchestral parts of four songs, and 12-year-old Tekla-Li Wadensten who played the harp on the title cut. The more I play this the more I like it, but I’m not sure that it will gain them any more fans, as while it is good at what it does there are moments when it just gets, um, boring. Which is quite a strange thing to say about an album that is attempting to be as over the top as this one. If you enjoy Kreator then you’ll like this, but to my ears it isn’t a patch on the new album by Sepultura.
