Without a doubt, Kreator have long been one of the most important and influential acts on the German thrash scene along with Sodom, Tankard, and Destruction. Originally signed to Noise Records in the early '80s, the band joined a talented roster that also included Celtic Frost, Helloween, Running Wild, Grave Digger, and many others. By the time the label went bust in the '90s, Kreator had already amassed a handful of very strong albums, which included Endless Pain, Pleasure to Kill, Terrible Certainty, Extreme Aggression, Coma of Souls, and lastly, Renewal in 1992. With BMG now resurrecting many of the classic recordings from the initial Noise era, we get this very solid collection of classic Kreator tracks from those early albums. Sadly, we were only given the single CD edition to review, as there is a much more complete 2CD collection that greatly gives you a more satisfying look at the bands Noise repertoire. For this version though, each track is killer, and contains legendary thrash tunes such as "Tormentor", "Behind the Mirror", "Flag of Hate", "Coma of Souls", and the rampaging "Ripping Corpse", with Kreator's manic attack also incorporating elements of both death & black metal for good measure.
The booklet tells the whole story of the band and their signing with Noise, right up to the parting of the ways, and includes many vintage photographs of a young Kreator, both live and promo shots. At about 50 minutes long, this could have easily included a few more songs to fill out the available room available on the CD format, but like I mentioned above, this single disc set is but a teaser, go out and find the much more complete double disc set and get ready for the best of what the early part of Kreator's career had to offer.
See more about this release on our recent YouTube show!
Track Listing
1) Endless Pain
2) Tormentor
3) Flag of Hate
4) Behind the Mirror
5) Ripping Corpse
6) Terrible Certainty
7) Extreme Aggression
8) Love Us or Hate Us
9) Betrayer
10) Coma of Souls
11) Kharmic Wheel
12) Renewal
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