Customer Reviews

Outcast

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A metal masterpiece. Shrieking, shredding, and catchy-as-a-plague songwriting. Having become a thrash fan around "Terrible Certainty" (where ferocity meets velocity--5 stars), I moved on to gentler musical styles after "Coma of Souls" (quick capsule review: exquisitely honed mayhem, 5 stars). Last year I thought I'd check in with my old German pal Mille and the gang--and I was impressed. These guys have evolved, stayed interesting, yet remained firmly planted in their brutal genre. I've since picked up their other 90's releases, each of which is different and worth a listen, but this is my favorite. This band is no joke, unlike, say, Slayer, who are fun but a tad goofy. No tongues in Kreator's cheeks. Serious stuff, any absurdity probably unintentional. The production, vocals, hooks, riffs, dynamics, arrangements--perfectly crafted. Entirely over the top, but earnest in that endearing, scary German way. Even some of the lyrics are pretty good: "Nonconformist" certainly makes its point. Kreator fight the law, and they friggin' win! And if you don't feel phobic before listening to "Phobia," you shall certainly feel phobic afterwards. Subtle, Kreator is not. Kreator is angry at everything--and they're here to tell you just how angry they are. To borrow a turn of phrase from Nigel Tufnel: How much angrier could they be? None angrier.

Sure I loved Cause For Conflict. It is one of Kreator's all time greatest. But you can't expect a band to play the same damn thing forever. You have to be open minded to listen to Outcast. You won't be disappointed. Kreator stresses melody and not technicallity. Well I also believe that another band is doing this as well. They go by the name of.....Dream Theater. If you consently just play to sound intellegent, you'll lose the soul. And Kreator shows a perfect example of keeping soul in their music with Outcast. Kreator plays not nearly as fast as Cause For Conflict. Bu.t still keep the gain up on their amps. You have to give Outcast a try and not listen to the bad reviews. You won't be disappointed

I'm Kreator's biggest fan on earth.. please, believe me, I think Mille is a Poet. I love every single album of this Gods of metal. But I gotta tell you that this is not a typical Kreator album, it's not as heavy and agressive as others. It's a great album, but it doesn't have the speed and agression that I love from this guys. So that's why I rate it 7.5 in quality.
Now, the first song is one of the best songs I've ever heard. "Leave This World behind" just makes me feel that I must leave everything behind and throw myself in front of a train. Each time Mille screems that songs title, it seems that he is bleeding from his throat....pure anger!!!
If you have an open mind you will love this album.

I just heard this album yesterday for the first time and I was instantly impressed by the agressiveness, which I have never heard in Kreator before (almost as aggressive as Hypocrisy's newer releases). Extreme Aggression will always be my favourite Kreator album, but Outcast might just have slipped into second place. What I really like about this album is how it retains a bit of the sound used in Renewal, but also gains new ground aswell as speed. Kreator have matured into an amazing band (not that they haven't always been amazing). This was released in 1997, but it might aswell have been released in 2007. The sound quality is better than most releases these days, and songs like 'Black Sunrise', 'Leave This World Behind' and 'Phobia' make this album worth every penny.

One of the amazingly most personal albums of Kreator together with Endorama. Awesome album as a whole. This masterpiece is purposedly minimalistic. It clearly privileges sincerity, and the integrity of the message over technicality.

If you are not yet bored with technical show offs too often present in guitar-influenced genres like blues or metal (and thrash metal especially).. if you are not yet fed up with never-ending guitar shredding and other my-riff-kills/my-solo-explodes/... mentality, then just pass by.

On the other hand, if you want to learn something other than "this or that 'band' kills".. if you want to enter the peculiar atmosphere of introspection... engage in something more serious than just spitting out your adrenaline...finally, if you don't mind looking at and understanding some of lyrics, maybe you will capture the true value of this record. I appreciate every piece of this remarkably balanced album. I love it probably in the same way as I love the atmosphere of early Black Sabbath records and some rare gothic metal acts. The feelings and reflexions created are personal, sometimes dark and gloomy, sometimes more positive, but far deeper than those of soccer game.

Final remark: to some extent, we are all losers, outcasts, sociopaths, manic depressive, and non-conformists. If you are 100% not, it's great! Anyway, you still can try to understand.

For some reason this is their only experimental album that I actually thought was pretty good. Don't get me wrong, I'll always prefer their 80's and very early 90's heavier Thrash, border-line Death Metal sound over this, but this isn't as bad as others are saying it is. Tracks 1-4 alone are worthy of a 3-star rating.

Give it a chance. It may grow on you.

This album is very different compared to the 80's and very early 90's. changing to more hardcore . It is still very strong and very heavy

This is the first time I listened to the whole album, and must say I am satisfied from the music magic by Kreator. True hard, heavy metal sound (phobia, nonconformist, enemy unseen) except the ballads Outcast and Black Sunrise which somewhat ruin the impression. The sound effects are awesome too.
One of the best albums around....

Kreator's legacy was best exhibited on the thrash masterpiece "Terrible Certainty", a monstrous thrash disc and their best work to date. Following that release, the band refined themselves and their music; better production and less emphasis on speed. After the bands experimental "Renewal" cd, "Cause for Conflict" was released and gave Kreator a new lease on life. Now the followup is upon us and another musical change comes about. Mid-paced and carefully thought out "Outcast" features simpler, catchier tunes, and the band nearly drops all technical overtures in their songs. While not a bad disc, one longs for the massive attack the unleashed on "Cause for Conflict" and "Teerible Certainty". Their latest, "Endorama" is a shocking disc to say the least. It may be that Kreator has reached the end of their thrash ways. "Outcast" is sturdy and decent, but laxks the fire and passion of the past. As a fan since the "Endless Pain" days, Kreator will always have a place in my heart, but those days seem to be coming to a close....

On one hand, you must appreciate a band who is not afraid to experiment. Kreator is definitely one of those bands. From Renewal's industrial flavor, to Cause from Conflict's uncanny crunch, to Endorama's gothic melodicism, Mille has taken this band for a ride during the 90s. Outcast is somewhere between those 3 albums on the sonic spectrum and, while it is by no means a bad disc, you must be in the proper mood to enjoy your listening experience.

The riffs are slower, downtuned and far more simple than anything Kreator are reknowned for, and while this suits tunes like the creepy Black Sunrise and Leave This World Behind perfectly, the fire is gone. Noncomformist and Enemy Unseen are great, upbeat tunes that might even have had a good shot at radio airplay... but alot of Outcast drifts into the same format of chugging mid-paced verse followed by decent hook filled chorus... repeat 3 times, and bam.

One thing that irks me about Outcast is how Kreator turned their back on their musical abilities. There is nearly no solos... and when one does appear it is nothing to be proud of. Sure, leads wouldn't fit this songs too well, but the complete absence of them leaves a void. ....

If you ever find yourself in a dark mood, give this CD a spin. Go into it without any expectations and you might just dig it.