biokreator

 

Kreator played under the name Tyrant and then Tormentor before changing it to Kreator in 1984. Kreator album debuted with Endless Pain in 1985. The 1986 follow-up Pleasure to Kill was a landmark in extreme metal. In the following years the band adopted a more refined and technical sound on albums like Terrible Certainty, Extreme Aggression and Coma Of Souls. After the brilliant Coma of Souls the band started to struggle during the nineties. They said farewell to thrash and their nineties was more influenced by industrial metal with modern 90's production values.

Their old thrash fans didn't like the direction the band took on Renewal, Cause for Conflict, Outcast and Endorama. But in 2001, Kreator returned to thrash with 2001's Violent Revolution. Since then the band has gained a large following with thrash albums like Enemy of God, Hordes of Chaos and Phantom Antichrist. Albums that had an even more melodic approach than their late 80's catalogue. The backbone of the band was always vocalist and Guitarist Mille Petrozza together with the drummer Jürgen 'Ventor' Reil. This is the biography of Kreator.

THE BEGINNING (1982-1985)

Kreator formed in Essen, Germany in 1982 under the name Tyrant. they soon changed it to Tormentor, a name they kept for about two years before changing it to Kreator. They recorded two demotapes under the name Tormentor, Blitzkrieg and the End of the World demo. In 1984 Tormentor became Kreator and the lineup was Mille Petrozza on guitars and vocals, Rob Fioretti on bass and Jürgen "Ventor" Reil on the drums. The band signed up to Noise Records and recorded their debut album Endless Pain in just ten days.

Kreator hired Sodom's guitarist Michael Wulf to perform live shows with the band, but he never played on any Kreator albums, despite getting the kredit for it on their 1986's masterpiece Pleasure to Kill. Endless Pain was a rugged and extreme metal album, blending thrash, speed, black and death metal into one ferocious album.

PLEASURE TO KILL (1986)

But it was nothing compared to the degree of extremity their follow-up album Pleasure to Kill would bring upon the metal community. With Harris Johns (Helloween, Voivod) as a producer Kreator's sound was refined and the album became monumental and majestic despite being just about the most violent albums the world ever heard. On Pleasure to Kill it was as said before not Michael Wulf whom played the lead guitar, instead it was Jörg "Tritze" Trzebiatowski who brougt us the leads.

The album became an instant hit and is generally considered to be one of the finest moments in German Metal history. Despite the early success, Kreator had hardly played live before the release of Pleasure to Kill. In late 1986 Kreator also released their first EP titled Flag of Hate.

TERRIBLE CERTAINTY AND EXTREME AGGRESSION (1987-1989)

In 1987, Kreator released their third full-length album, Terrible Certainty, it was a more varied album and the death and black metal tendencies of their past was slightly toned down for a more regular thrash sound. Kreator recorded a video for the song Toxic Trace, which became the bands first music video. In late 1987 Kreator released another EP, titled Out of the Dark...  Into the Light. Which included a Raven-cover (Lambs to the Slaughter) and various live cuts.

Epic Records started distribution Kreator's catalogue outside Europe.

In 1988 Kreator went to Los Angeles, California to record their fourth studio album titled Extreme Aggression. The album was released in 1989 and it was the band's most successful album to date. The album had a better production, much thanks to Randy Burns (Megadeth, Nuclear Assault) skills in the studio. The band had originally planned to use a picture of their "Mascot" Violent Mind, eating the flesh of a skull, but the cover was banned and instead the band used a photograph of themselves in front of a red background.

Kreator recorded a video for the song Betrayer and it became something of a hit song and Kreator toured North America with Suicidal Tendencies and Coroner. After the tour the bands guitarist Jörg "Tritze" Trzebiatowski left Kreator and Kreator recruited Frank 'Blackfire' Gosdzik from Sodom. Frank 'Blackfire' had played on Sodom's legendary Persecution Mania and Agent Orange-albums before joining Kreator.

COMA OF SOULS & THRASHING EAST FESTIVAL (1990-1991)

In march of 1990, just months after the fall of the Berlin wall, Kreator took part in the Thrashing East Festival at Werner Seelenbinder-Halle in east Berlin. The festival was headlined by Kreator and Sabbath, Coroner and Tankard took part. A video was made from all the concerts and Coroner's show was released as a video titled Extreme Aggression Tour 1989 / '90 - Live in East-Berlin. The concerts was the first big metal event in the DDR since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Tons of interviews with bands, managers and other active people in DDR, Soviet Union and the Eastern Block took part.

In 1990 the split video Thrashing East was released and it featured live tracks from Sabbat, Kreator, Tankard and Coroner. Flag of Hate, Terrible Certainty, Riot of Violence and Love Us or Hate Us was the four Kreator tracks on the Thrashing East video.

In November of 1990 Kreator released the album Coma of Souls. Which was an even more refined product, some thought the album was too clean compared to the brutality of their previous albums, but some hailed it as the bands best work yet. Randy Burns (Megadeth, Dark Angel) produced the highly acclaimed album. When the Sun Burns Red and People of the Lie became hit singles from the bands popular fifth studio album.

A NEW DIRECTION (1992-2000)

The nineties was a confusing time for Kreator, when the grunge wave hit Kreator struggled to find their identity. During the nineties thrash metals popularity declined and Kreator started experimenting with industrial metal. In 1992 Kreator released the album Renewal, the album was produced by Tom Morris (Sepultura) but the album ended up with rather terrible reviews. The band got criticized for selling out and because the band adopted an industrial sound. After touring South America, founding member Rob Fioretti left Kreator.

He was replaced by Andreas Herz for a while before Kreator recruited Christian Giesler. In 1994 Jurgen 'Ventor' Reil left Kreator and Mille Petrozza became the bands only original member. Reil was replaced by Joe Cangelosi. To make things worse, Epic dropped Kreator. Kreator signed to G.U.N. Records and in 1995 they released Cause For Conflict. The album drew influences from Pantera and Machine Head and the album was more or less a failure.

In 1996 Joe Cangelosi and Frank 'Blackfire' Gosdzik left Kreator and in stepped original member Jurgen 'Ventor' Reil and Tommy Vetterli aka Tommy T. Baron of Coroner. The band continued and recorded Outcast in 1997 and Endorama in 1999. Both heavily influenced by gothic, groove and industrial metal. Kreator was at a real low point here and the record sales went down.

A VIOLENT REVOLUTION (2001-2009)

In 2001 Tommy Vetterli left Kreator and the band recruited the Finnish guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö. With Sami in the band, Kreator developed a more melodic sound. In 2001 the band released Violent Revolution, which was a return to their thrash roots,. The album was a success and Kreator started building a name for themselves again, with tons of young kids discovering their music again. The band released a live album called Live Kreation and a DVD was released in 2003. In 2005, Kreator released Enemy of God, which furthered the bands popularity.

The band then toured North America with Napalm Death. In 2008 Kreator started working on their next album Hordes of Chaos, which was released the following year. To support the album, Kreator co-headlined a tour with Exodus through North America.

GODS OF VIOLENCE (2010-2017)

In 2010, Kreator signed up to Nuclear Blast Records. In 2010 Kreator joined Suicidal Tendencies, Death Angel and Exodus on the Thrashfest tour. In 2012 Kreator released their thirteenth studio album Phantom Antichrist and a tour with Accept followed. The album peaked at #130 on the Billboard album list, which was a record high for the bandd. Lately Kreator has worked on their upcoming album Gods of Violence, which will be released in January of 2017. It will be the longest recording gap in the bands history. To promote their new record Kreator will tour and gig with Sepultura, Soilwork, Obituary and Aborted.

HATE ÜBER ALLES (2018-2022)

On June 3rd 2022, Kreator's new album Hate Über Alles is coming out. The band will support Hate Über Alles by touring Europe with Lamb of God, Thy Art Is Murder and Gatecreeper in late 2022.