Review of Kreator - Violent Revolution

By taking the brutally and technically bombastic elements from Endless Pain and Pleasure to Kill and meshing them with the intelligently talented songwriting wit of Extreme Aggression and Coma Of Souls, the end result is Kreator's newest offspring, Violent Revolution. The one thing that has always intrigued me about Kreator has been their ability to hash out hellacious guitar riffage and layer it with melodic passages; therefore, the ultimate reason I appreciate their song writing style. That has always been one of my major complaints about a lot of metal over the past 10 years or so. The lack of melody in some of the music. I can respect the most technical rhythm players out there, but in my opinion if there isn't any melody there isn¹t any hook. Melody isn't the only thing that reels me in; speed, mixed with the right amount of groove, plays a big part when it comes to my tastes. Luckily for me this album has all three, and believe me when I say it's not the cheesy breakdown speed-to-groove scenario reminiscent in most of today's hardcore bands. It's the real shit, and this is real metal. To be honest, it's never really been too much of a group effort when it comes to the composing of this band's music. Like the legendary Chuck Schuldiner was with Death/Control Denied and the talented Dave Mustaine has been for Megadeth, Mille Petrozza has been the leader as well as the driving force behind his band. It is because of the drive this man has that Kreator has been able to release album after album for the past 17 years. With an enormous amount of line up changes over the years and two extremely sub-par studio albums as of late, Mille and Kreator are back with a vengeance. Unlike Mr. Mustaine, who had us all fooled with his "back to the old-school" VH1 comments, Mille has rebounded after a severe case of over-the-hill-syndrome and delivered a great metal album. With this album Mille is going to be the proud owner of the first ever MetalReview "2001 Comeback Musician Of The Year Award" sponsored by Soullesizer Industries. The first thing that will blow you away upon the first listen of Violent Revolution is the phenomenal production. Hooking up with producer Andy Sneap (Nevermore, Testament, Arch Enemy, etc.) has to be one of the most brilliant moves Mille has made in the past several years. However, one of the dumbest moves Mille made was losing guitarist Tommy Vetterli of the now defunct band Coroner. Two things truly bother me about this move here, so give me ample time to elaborate. Point # 1: He never let Tommy unleash his magnificent art of shredding leads on either album he played on. I believe he had only one non-Vetterli like lead on Outcast, and the leads performed on Endorama were more than likely written in his sleep. Point #2: Mille gave his new guitarist the green light to provide many melodic passages on Violent Revolution as well as some slightly above-par lead sections. They aren't bad leads, however, they aren't the brilliance that could have been on display if Tommy would have had the freedom to express his musical ability. Anyone that remembers that old Coroner shit knows what I'm talking about. Regardless of how I feel about the Tommy V situation, this album still kicks ass without him. By no means are you going to hear anything ground breaking on this release, but you will hear Kreator reverting back to the style that once made them one of the leading European bands in the mid-80's to early 90's. With crushing tracks like Reconquering The Throne and Servant In Heaven - King In Hell to the all out bash of Second Awakening and the title track, Kreator have proven they are here to bring their brand of old-school metal into the new millennium with integrity and sheer power. Even though Off-And-On-Again-Mille has disappointed me with his past two releases, Kreator is back and I only see great things to come. This is high-grade thrash metal fused with the perfect amount of groove and melody. Mille's raspy growl is polished and adds the icing to this album¹s overall quality. I was weary of even giving this album a chance, but after having a listen at my local dungeon-o-metal I had to own it. Whether you are a Kreator fan of old or just an old fan that gave up on this band, this disc is worth owning. I also highly recommend this one to anyone unfamiliar with Kreator along with the previously mentioned Extreme Aggression and every drummer's favorite Cause For Conflict (both my personal favorites).

Release Details

Kreator

Violent Revolution

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