classicalbumskreatorpleasuretokill

 

PLEASURE TO KILL

Mille Petrozza - Rob Fioretti - Jürgen Reil

KREATOR from Essen, Germany formed under the name Tyrant, But they would soon change their name to Tormentor. After making two demo tapes the band adopted the Kreator monicker after listening to their labels advice, the label was Noise Records and in 1985 they released their debut album Endless Pain. Kreator joined Sodom and Destruction as leaders of the Teutonic thrash flame. But it was on the 1st of November, 1986 that Kreator made metal history with the blistering, brutal Pleasure to Kill. It was released a few months after Metallica’s Master of Puppets and Slayer’s Reign in Blood,

Pleasure to Kill upped the ante on both in terms of speed, simplicity and raw aggression. Sure, Metallica wrote better riffs and Slayer had better arrangements, but Pleasure to Kill was an overdose of pure adrenaline that compensated for any off-tempo beats, erratic guitar work or rudimentary production by going straight for the throat with every song and being entirely unrepentant about any of its shortcomings.

Looking back upon the album it's easy to see what an impact it had on the wave of extreme metal that followed in it's footsteps. Even if 1986 was a terrific year for thrash metal, an album like Pleasure To Kill might have been forgotten when albums like Peace Sells by Megadeth, Master of Puppets by Metallica and Reign in Blood by Slayer was released the same year. But Pleasure to Kill has remained a classic thrash album ever since it was released in late 1986.

 

TORMENTOR (1983-1984)

The band was formed as Tyrant in Essen, Germany, in 1982 when Roberto 'Rob' Fioretti, Miland 'Mille' Petrozza and Jürgen 'Ventor' Reil came together. At the time they had a vocalist called Paul Terozza before Mille took over the vocal duties. They had a hard time deciding on a band name since they went through names such as Metal Militia and Tyrant before deciding on Tormentor. In 1983 they recorded their first demo tape, it was called Blitzkrieg, it had songs like Armies of Hell, Cry War, Satan's Day and Messenger From Burning Hell. The track Cry War, would later end up on Kreator's 1984 debut Endless Pain.

In 1984 Tormentor recorded another demo, the End of the World demo, with songs like Armies of Hell, Tormentor, Cry War and Bonebreaker. With the last three tracks ending up on Endless Pain. In 1984 Tormentor did their first gig and later in 1984 Tormentor changed their name to Kreator. When getting in contact with Noise Records, Tormentor was asked to change their name because there were already a lot of bands around calling themselve Tormentor. So the band agreed and became Kreator. During the bands early days they were heavily influenced by bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Venom, Kiss, Raven, Tygers of Pan Tang, Metalica and Accept. Mille admits in an interview that it was Venom and Raven that made the band drop their heavy metal sound and trying to play faster and heavier songs.

ENDLESS PAIN (1985)

In 1985 Kreator signed a recording deal with Noise Records. They traveled to Berlin to record their debut album Endless Pain, the album was recorded at the CAT Studio in just ten days.

The album was produced by Horst Müller. The album was one of the most brutal albums the world had ever heard. Endless Pain was one of the first examples when Black and Thrash Metal came together as one. There are also traces of Death Metal in the bands debut album. While recording Endless Pain, Kreator was a trio (Fioretti, Petrozza and Reil). The band used dual vocalists (Petrozza and Reil) on Endless Pain which made the album varied. The production was primitive but it also had a lot of charm to it.

Kreator worked with a lot of people on Endless Pain that they would work again with on Pleasure to Kill, people like: Phil Lawvere (Artwork artist), Fred Baumgart (Photographer), Jürgen Crasser (Remastering) Maren Kumpe (Layout) and Karl-U Walterbach (Executive Producer).

In 1985 Kreator played their first gigs in and around Germany, in their hometown of Essen. They also played gigs in Velbert (First show as Kreator), Dortmund (Where they opened for Destruction, Sodom, Violent Force and Iron Angel) and Bochum and one gig abroad in Belgium.

Around this time, Kreator hired Sodom's guitarist Michael Wulf to play live with the band but he was fired after just two months. According to Mille, Michael Wulf was uninterested in learning the riffs from Endless Pain and the Flag of Hate EP. So Kreator only played one gig with Michael Wulf before firing him.

PLEASURE TO KILL (1986)

In 1986, Kreator did a few gigs before the release of Pleasure to Kill, They played two gigs in Denmark, One in Belgium and a couple of gigs in Germany. They opened up for Celtic Frost and they did a gig with Tankard during the spring and summer of 1986.

In August of 1986 Kreator released the Flag of Hate EP, that included the tracks: Flag of Hate, Take their Lives and Awakening of the Gods. These three tracks would later be used as bonus tracks on later reissues of Pleasure to Kill. The Flag of Hate EP was recorded in Bochum together with producer Ralf Hubert.

In late 1986, Kreator went into the Musiclab Studio in Berlin to record their sophomore album Pleasure To Kill together with yop class producer Harris Johns. Harris Johns was a well-respected produer whom had earlier worked with bands such as Grave Digger, Helloween, Celtic Frost and Coroner. Michael Wulf was credited for playing on Pleasure To Kill, but that's incorrect. Jörg 'Tritze' Trzebiatowski has also been credited for playing the guitar on the album, but he joined the band after the album had been recorded.

Pleasure to Kill was written and recorded by the original trio: Mille Petrozza, Rob Fioretti and Jürgen 'Ventor' Reil. These people worked on the album: Harris Johns did the Engineering, Producer & Recording. Fred Baumgart and Mike Trengert stood for the photography. Phil Lawvere (whom had worked with Celtic Frost) painted the artwork. Jürgen Crasser and Mille Petrozza stood for te remastering. Maren Kumpe did the Layout and Typography and Karl-U Walterbach (Founder and owner of Noise Records) was the executive producer.

Mille told Metal Forces in 1986 that he was displeased with the production of Endless Pain and that the band had learned a lot during their early days and the riffs just became better and better. He also said that he liked the album but that it became too fast and chaotic at times. Mille was dissatisfied with the production on Endless Pain but he thought the bands production had become so much better with the releases of the Flag of Hate EP and the Pleasure to Kill LP. He also said that the song Riot of Violence was different from the other songs on the album and that Kreator might write more songs of  that type in the future. That Kreator would go in a more technical direction from now on. Mille was also talking about adding another guitarist to the band and that they had some serious problems with guitarist Michael Wulf.

In September of 1986 Kreator went on their first real tour, a three week tour with Rage and Destruction, The tour was titled "Hell comes to your town tour '86". During the tour Kreator played in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium.

On the first of November, 1986 Pleasure to Kill was released and two weeks later Kreator traveled to Zürich, Switzerland to play the supporting role together with Coroner, while Celtic Frost headlined. Both Celtic Frost and Coroner hailed from the city of Zürich.

TOURING AND FINDING A NEW SOUND (1987)

In March of 1987 Kreator released the single Behind the Mirror from their upcoming album Terrible Certainty. The single also featured a Tygers of Pan Tang-cover called Gangland.

After releasing the single Kreator went on a their "Violent Conquest Tour '87". The tour started in April of 1987 and continued throughout May '87. The tour started in Yugoslavia and continued through West Germany. They then flew over to Canada, where Voivod would join them. Together with Voivod Kreator toured North America. After 30 or so gigs in the States and Canada Kreator had gigged with bands such as Soothsayer, Slaughter, Sacrifice, Satan's Host, Vio-Lence, Betrayal, Nuclear Assault and St. Vitus to name a few. The first part of the tour ended in May and the band returned to Germany to record their next album.

In September of 1987 the follow up to Pleasure to Kill was released. The album was titled Terrible Certainty and it was released on Noise Records just like the bands previous records were. It was recorded in Horus Studios in Hanover, Germany. The band worked with Roy Rowland as a producer and some of the brutal aggressions of Pleasure to Kill was refined and the band came out with a more technical sound, just like Mille wanted. But this cleaner version of Kreator lacked a bit of brutality that the band portrayed on Pleasure to Kill.

The band then went on a small tour with Celtic Frost and Virus (UK) in England.

In November and December Kreator invited Voivod to Europe, so the world tour continued throughout Europe, Kreator and Voivod layed gigs in England, Denmark, Switzerland, West Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and France.

GOING FORWARD (1988-2001)

The bands sound would continue to become more technical and less abrasive with the release of Extreme Aggression (1989) and Coma of Souls (1990). Kreator became more technical and less aggressive by each release. The production values had also become better and overall Kreator were leaving the more abusive typical German sound behind them. Both Extreme Aggression and Coma of Souls did extremely well and the bands popularity had risen to new levels.

But the rest of the 90's were a confusing time for Kreator, other musical influences took Kreator in other directions. The bands started experimenting with industrial and groove metal sounds of the 90's. During this era Kreator fell deep into obscurity with the releases of albums like Renewal (1992), Cause For Conflict (1995), Outcast (1997) and Endorama (1999).

When the 2000's arrived Kreator took the decision to pursue thrash again and their album Violent Revolution which was released in 2001, reawakened people's interest in the band once again.

RE-ISSUES

Pleasure to Kill was remastered and reissued by Century Media in 2000. The songs were remastered at the TMM Studios in Berlin in 2000. The three tracks from Kreator's 1986 EP Flag of Hate has been used as bonus tracks on the 2000-reissue of Pleasure to Kill. The tracks used were: Flag of Hate (originally on Endless Pain, but re-recorded for the Flag of Hate EP), Take Their Lives and Awakening of the Gods.

LEGACY AND IMPACT

Kreator have released a ton of classic thrash metal albums over the years, but Pleasure to Kill is often mentioned as the bands very best effort.

Many death metal bands including Cannibal Corpse and Morbid Angel has mentioned Pleasure to Kill to be an influence on them.

Varg Vikernes of Burzum changed into a Pleasure to Kill t-shirt when trying to escape the murder of Euronymous in 1993.

TRACK BY TRACK

CHOIR OF THE DAMNED

Choir of the damned is an instrumental opener. It's made out of two parts, the first one being more melodic and after the sound of someone hitting a gong, the intro gets more pompous and archaic. After 1:40 the song intro leads into the second track Ripping Corpse. Choir of the Damned often serves as an intro on the bands live performances.

RIPPING CORPSE

The intro Choir of the Damned segue directly into Ripping Corpse, that instantly sets the standard for the rest of the album. It rips the beauty of the intro into a pieces. Ripping Corpse comes in like a bulldozer with 'Ventor's furious drumming and some impressive tremolo picking by Mille Petrozza. Ripping Corpse is the shortest song on the album if you don't count the intro. The song is written from the perspective of the narrator, in the beginning of the song everything is fine and you've got your wife and kids. But then the murderous "Ripping Corpse" shows up and in the end the listener is alone and the he comes up to you, while you're stricken by fear, but it is left open wheter you are killed in the end or not.

DEATH IS YOUR SAVIOUR

Death is your Saviour is another unrelenting piece of brutal thrash. Ventor really hammers the drums here. The lyrics is about a war god who spreads fear across the land and sea. The only way to be free is to kill yourself and thus Death is your Saviour.

PLEASURE TO KILL

The title track on Pleasure To Kill is such a legendary song. The debauchery of this track is monumental. The lyrics and the vocal lines are fitting the song perfectly.

The song is played on almost every live performance by Kreator. It is about a zombie "rising" out of his coffin, with the sole aim of taking lives. It contains detailed descriptions of the killing and the state of mind of the zombie.

RIOT OF VIOLENCE

Riot of Violence stands out from the pack. Riot of Violence is played at a lower tempo and the riffing is surprisingly melodic compared to the rest of the album.

The song depicts the moral decay of the world. A deadly wounded man lying on the street is not helped because the people doesn't have a reason to help him. A lonely flower stands amongst the corpse-littered fields as a reminder how the world used to be, but in the end also the flower is trampled down. Riot of Violence is a classic tune Kreator plays live until this day.

CARRION

Carrion is one of the best tracks on the album, it's another song that pushes the envelope when it comes to intensity and speed. The song is about a society destroyed by the plague. The "end of all cultures" is close, even the gods have given up the world. Undead men are infected by a virus and their only goal is to spread terror. Even if the album seems deeply evil and satanic, it's only in Carrion that the band actually refers to Satan.

 

COMMAND OF THE BLADE

Command of the Blade starts out with some intense riffing and drumming but then the band finds another gear and they pushes the speed limit hard. The chorus is memorable and aggressive. Command of the Blade is another song aout a demon with black hair and red-hot eyes are coming back to life to terrorize. With his blade he commands and brings death upon the world.

UNDER THE GUILLOTINE

The song is about being under the guillotine (an execution device). The short text is about a man that is about to die in the hands of his executioner. At first he is too proud to plead for mercy, but when he sees the "axe of death" tears starts to roll down his cheeks and he realizes he must pay for what he did.

MY PERSONAL REVIEW

Kreator had created a name for themselves in the German underground with their noisy and unpolished debut Endless Pain. But none of the band members were satisfied with how it came out. At the same time albums like Master of Puppets, Reign in Blood, Darkness Descends and Peace Sells were released each and every month of 1986, So Kreator knew they had to step things up in order to compete.

With Harris Johns at the helm, Kreator outdid themselves in every way imaginable. The production is better here, the album is more intact, more intense, way more aggressive, it's played faster. They really succeeded on all levels. These eight outbursts of brutality were amongst the most extreme metal you could find by 1986.

Man I'm telling you, this was the next natural progression from your Bathory, your Hellhammer and your Possessed and your Slayer. Kreator managed to combine a thrash sound with ideas that would later be defined as black and death metal. Albums like Darkness Descends and Reign in Blood were generally played at a higher pace, but  they lacked the dirtiness and brutality that Pleasure to Kill manages to portray. Most often it's straight ahead debauchery here, but there are moments  that sticks out, especially Riot of Violence, with it's melodic mid-tempo riffage. Tracks like Carrion and Pleasure to Kill is also worth mentioning because they are extremely competent songs.

Pleasure to Kill feels majestic and despite being thirty years old it's still vital and I would say that Pleasure to Kill is the most known and well-respected European thrash album of all time.

Rarely the bands most violent and aggressive album ends up being their most popular, but that's the case here with Pleasure to Kill and that says a lot, going mainstream and writing

more radio friendly thrash isn't equal to popularity.

Kreator has also been seen as a somewhat political thrash band but there aren't that many traces of political ideas here, more than some lyrics about the moral decay of our society, No Pleasure to Kill is about killing and dying, few albums are as murderous as Pleasure to Kill.

The bass by Rob Fioretti is good and loud and drummer Jürgen 'Ventor' Reil made his best performance here, the drums are organic and present and Mille Petrozza had one of the most extreme voices in metal.

Pleasure to Kill serves as a bridge between the bands early and quite blunt origins and the impressive and technical sound of their late eighties. Thirty years after Pleasure to Kill's release the album stands tall, ageless and it has still not being passed by it's rivals.

10/10

Studios:

Recorded at Musiclab Studio in Berlin in 1986.

Mastered at Studio-Nord-Breman, Germany.

Credits:

Harris Johns: Engineering, Producer & Recording

Fred Baumgart: Photography

Mike Trengert: Photography

Phil Lawvere: Cover art

Martin Becker: Photography (reissue)

Mille Petrozza: Remastering

Jürgen Crasser: Remastering

Maren Kumpe: Layout, Typography (reissue)

Karl-U. Walterbach: Executive producer

Lineup:

Mille Petrozza: Guitar and Vocals

Rob Fioretti: Bass

Jürgen Reil: Drums

"Day turns to night as I rise from my grave

Black was the hole were I laid

Stalking the city to seek out your blood

I love when it showers from my blade

Your body is so pretty but how will it look

When my perverted lust is stilled

No one to save you no parents or friends

Because they've already got killed

My only aim is to take many lives

The more the better I feel

My only pleasure is to hear many cries

From those tortured by my steel

The colour of your blood from your open body

Is all I wanted to see

Tasting the blood from your lips as you die

Means satisfaction to me

Pleasure to kill"

/ Ruthless