KREATOR: Pleasure To Kill (THRASH): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

1986 was a great year: Slayer delivered their immortal "Reign In Blood", Metallica confirmed their leadership with "Master Of Puppets" and Megadeth made their mark with "Peace Sells... But Who's Buying? American Speed Thrash Metal was at its peak, dominating the global metal scene. But old Europe has not yet said its last word: Kreator, who made their name with an aggressive and uncompromising "Endless Pain", counter-attacks with their second album, "Pleasure To Kill".

If the first opus was promising, this second album is superior in every way. Sharper, more violent and perfectly executed, "Pleasure To Kill" lives up to its name and smashes the competition in 39 minutes. Petrozza, who sings on two-thirds of the album, is impressive in his rage and power, already setting the tone for later death and black metal vocals.

After a gentle, melodic yet menacing introduction, Kreator deliver their expertise on the following 8 tracks. 'Ripping Corse', 'Death Is Your Saviour', 'Carrion' and 'Command Of The Blade' are excellent tracks, with the speedy drumming that would influence many bands in the '90s. 'Pleasure To Kill', with its explicit chorus, is a nugget of rare violence, as are 'Riot Of Violence', sung by Ventor, and 'Under The Guillotine', true Thrash anthems, while with 'The Pestilence', Kreator dares a rather long track, admittedly very aggressive, but with a sought-after guitar feel.

As a bonus to this reissue, Kreator had the excellent idea of including the hard-to-find "Flag Of Hate" Ep, with two previously unreleased tracks, "Take Their Lives" and "Awakening Of The Gods", of excellent quality that would have been a shame not to hear.

In just one record, Kreator have placed themselves in the pantheon of Heavy Speed Thrash giants, and even among the great hopefuls of the global metal scene. A monster has clearly been born, and we'll have to keep a close eye on it as it seems capable of going even further. - Official website

KREATOR

PLEASURE TO KILL

NOISE

THRASH