Blistering
Kreator are a great band, they always have been. Since their first release in 1985 the band have been the instigators of Teutonic thrash metal along with Destruction and Sodom. Nowadays they're in that unfortunate position of being considered genre defining and thus anything they create in these modern times will always be compared to their early works, namely 'Endless Pain' and 'Pleasure To Kill'. This is a shame because 2005's 'Enemy Of God' was, well, put simply, an absolute killer on an album. But it's insane to think that only original fans of the band are the only ones still listening to Kreator, the band, thanks largely to the internet, will be picking up new fans especially with the interest in thrash growing once more. An army of new fans who will take the band's contemporary work on face value rather than instantly thinking, 'they're not as good as they used to be'.
I can only hope that fans who've been with Kreator for the past two and half decades can lift those blinkers for just forty minutes because 'Hordes Of Chaos' is a brilliant example of sheer uncompromising and unadulterated thrash. It simply puts almost all the young up and coming retro thrash bands in the shade. The title track blisters into life after a short harmony introduction. Even after two decades Kreator can still sound fucked off at the whole world and when they channel into in music the results are awesome. The album's brain thumping highlight, 'Warcurse' follows it and easily blew me away especially when vocalist, Mille Patrozza, screams WARCURSE! It's moments like this that are the reason why thrash is such an exciting genre.
'Hordes Of Chaos' is also a lesson in how to write thrash metal. For all the attitude and aggression contained within the disc Kreator never lose that sense of melody or forget the killer 'hook'. The guitar work, both in riffs and shredding, is just as good as anyone today, delivering screaming solos and speed metal riffs with deft aplomb. The band convincingly pull off the mellow start of 'Amok Run' before building into a blast-a-thon for the tail end of the song. You could argue that Kreator rely on their speed far too much, and there would be weight in that argument, but that's what makes thrash, thrash isn't it? The key to 'Hordes Of Chaos' is giving each song its own identity rather than letting them blend into one. The brilliant 'Absolute Misanthropy' has the same thrash blueprint as many of the songs on this disc but you can tell you're listening to it if you put it on at random.
The production is as clean as it can get with thrash. It is mixed by Colin Richardson and you know you're going to get the best with Mr Richardson at the knobs. The bass drum shudders the bowels when it needs to and the twin harmony attack sounds powerful as do the well-written solos. As much as I liked 'Enemy Of God', I think 'Hordes Of Chaos' eclipses it not only in song writing but as an effort to capture the band's original intensity. It's dynamic, catchy and melodic without compromising the thrash metal, an aspect that all the best thrash bands can command, and Kreator are one of the best thrash bands.