Kreator- Hordes of Chaos

Kreator “Hordes of Chaos”, 2009
(SPV)

I must have fallen asleep for twenty years because the last Kreator full length I remember hearing was “Extreme Aggression” which I bought on cassette the year it came out.  Somehow after that they fell off my personal radar as there were new and undiscovered bands and genres.  It’s a piss weak excuse but it’s the truth and I can handle it.  Anyway, from the sounds of this album Kreator have been doing much the same. The “Hordes of Chaos” intro has a small but noticable part with riffs borrowed from “Battery”.  There’s a symphonic lean on this song but Mille’s spits are ever present and the song keeps veering down the narrow thrash metal alley.  While the first three songs are tight thrash metal, on “Amok. Run.” Mille Petrozza croons Andrew Eldritch style.  That’s right, he sings like The Sisters of Mercy guy instead of the expected spitting razor blades snarling vocals but relax, it’s only on the start of the song as it twists into a thrash song and the vocals and the music breathe the intensity of the Kreator of yore. Screamo bands should take out their notebooks, as this song is a lesson on how it should be done.  Everyone else get the red wine out.  Don black clothes and dye your hair black right now.  There are also gothic overtones “To The Afterborn” with its slow build up and chants before the speed kicks in and leaves the listener needing false teeth due to the thrasing smash.

However there are a number of moments on this album where Mille sounds like Steve Souza or his present replacement and the band as a whole suffer from Exodus envy. The main offender is “Radical Resistance” which sounds like it could have been a “Fabulous Disaster” track.   “Absolute Misanthropy” though will please purists as it sounds exactly like the Kreator of twenty plus years ago.   This song makes it clear that anger is still bubbling in their veins and listening to these guys vent their heated rage is still a pleasure.

This album was apparently recorded to be a reflection of the band’s live qualities and avoid computer trickery in the recording process.   There are a few tracks that have a definite studio feel as opposed to the live rawness. Especially noticeable areVentor’s punishing drum sounds, which are so clear that they give the impression of a studio filled with a trail of damaged skins. Despite being above many other thrash metal bands, there’s really too many riffs borrowed here for “Hordes of Chaos” to be considered classic Kreator since they’re capable of much better.

3.5/5

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