Kreator – Hordes of Chaos – Review

kreator200Kreator

Hordes of Chaos (SPV)
By Scott Hefflon

German thrash legends Kreator claw back to their roots to record Hordes of Chaos, a live in the studio recording the likes of which they haven’t done since their mid-’80s classic, Pleasure to Kill. Which was sloppy and glorious, probably recorded in such a way cuz the band was new and broke as shit.

This time around, being thrash pioneers and all and having a couple decades of technology flirtation beneath their belts, it’s now a CHOICE to sound vital and occasionally faulty. Which is live and metal thrashing mad, to quote another thrash pioneer band. Vocalist Mille is sounding very clear and upfront, as he has for some time, but he’s also sounding, well, strained, kinda like when you now listen to Saxon or Destruction, who’re peers time-wise. Not as bad as listening to your old man after a few beers telling you to keep your room clean, but, let’s face it, the dudes in Kreator, politically angry or not (and who with a pulse isn’t after all the damage Bush has done) are your Dad’s age. Anger is good, especially well-researched, time-tested anger, but this is not the rage of twenty-somethings: Old enough to see what a fuckin’ mess the world is, but too young to really be in a position to do much besides bitch loudly (and usually naively) about it.

Yes, Hordes of Chaos is a thrashing, speedmetal can of whoop-ass, and while recorded live and raw, it’s still a conscious effort, a deliberate exercise to be raw. With “inspired by” bands like Municipal Waste around, it’s questionable whether we really NEED another Kreator CD, raw or not, but for anyone who doesn’t have Terrible Certainty in their iPod favorites and listen to it regularly, Hordes of Chaos is a decent return to roots (like Enemy of God before it) for a band whose roots have inspired most any metal band worth listening to in the last two decades.
(www.spvusa.com)