Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Bloodied wounds on his body praying for his god", February 3, 2004
I am not really a fan of speed metal. Thrash is as deep as I usually go in the metal categories and grindcore makes me physically ill. There is something about the German speed metal band Kreator that I really enjoy. A friend loaned me Pleasure To Kill back in the 1980s (it was originally released in 1986) and I liked it so much I was not satisfied just making a copy of it; I had to go out and buy the real thing. Then I bought Terrible Certainty, Flag of Hate, and Out of the Dark...Into the Light. Pleasure to Kill is still my favorite. At first I thought it was funny because it starts with the beautiful instrumental "Choir of the Damned" and then launches into the explosive, hard pumping "Ripping Corpse." The more I listened, the more I became hooked to the incredible guitar riffs. It is not just noise; there is melody here (fast and furious) that I can remember. The best track here is definitely "Riot of Violence." This is my favorite Kreator song. It is amazing and sounds even better on the live album Out of the Dark... "Command of the Blade" has ferocious guitars. The Medieval-looking cover artwork is also very cool. If I can like this album, any real fan of speed metal will love it!
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
So intense, so brutal, so insane it might as well be death metal, August 13, 2006
Yes, everything you've heard about this album is 110% true ladies and losers. But like my title says, this is probably one of the most extreme and brutal thrash albums ever made that you could make an argument that it's borderline death metal. I mean it was very influential for the up and coming DM scene in the late 80s (Morbid Angel definitely comes to mind as someone influenced by these guys) but maybe the only things that make it more thrash are the vocals which are actually pretty intense for a thrash album. The only other thrash vocalist that is as crazy as Mille is maybe Don Doty of Dark Angel or Max Cavalera. Unfortunately this band would not match their brutality and violence they served up with this release. I even hear the newer stuff from this decade is great and I plan on getting them.
Ok for the music itself, it's effin mindblowing. I personally love the melodic intro, even though it's nothing like the rest of the album it sets the mood for it painting a image of a open battlefield that's about to be 'littered with corpses'. Then it has godly tracks like Ripping Corpse and the title track which are some of the most ferocious metal songs I've ever heard. The violent lyrics here are actually SCARY and INTIMIDATING unlike bands like Cannibal Corpse where it's borderline amusing (that's not a diss, I really like CC plus who doesn't like to laugh?). I mean the title track is f*cking extreme metal anthem for christ's sake. The last couple songs are killer too, like Command of the Blade with it's crazy riffs and the closer with Mille yelling out UNDA THE GUILLOTINE! Speaking of Mille, the man can solo like a mofo. I'm going to use the two B words to describe them, blistering and blazing. Seriously though, all the songs are great, the only one that's slightly under par with the rest is Pestilence. What's also amazing about this album is that THE BONUS TRACKS DONT SUCK! Don't you notice that bonus tracks, well, usually blow? Note here folks, the pulled the 3 tracks from the 'Flag of Hate' EP and yes they have a rawer production but they are some of thrash's best. You get a juiced up version of the Flag of Hate song (it was originally on their debut), Take Their Lives (another ever-so-violent anthemic song) and their most complex song Awakening of the Gods which is quite god-like as well. This definitely gets the award for "best bonus tracks ever". Oh and the bass? ACTUALLY AUDIBLE! Wow, can this album do any wrong?
Let me also take some time to confirm by other metalheads comments. Best band from Germany? DEFINITELY. In fact I don't even like the Scorpions, I think their singer is wimpy and they're just all around boring. The other two bands from the German thrash movement (Sodom and Destruction) are really awesome too but not quite as good and consistent and these boys. THIS is the album that 'rocks you like a hurricane'. Yes, the drummer is indeed like a German version of the universally loved Dave Lombaardo, he can do insane double bass and basically everything else metal fans crave in their percussion, it has a really thick and meaty sound to them which I love. Best album of '86? See that's a really tough question to answer seeing as how I gave all 3 albums of the 'Unholy Trinity' a 97% rating...so it's really up to you. This is the more brutal one, DD is more about speed, and RIB has both.
In conclustion, it's ESSENTIAL. However, if you're new to metal I'm not sure if I'd recommend this it might be a little too much for you. I bow down to this and so should you.
P.S. If I ever decide to go on a mass murdering rampage I'm making this my soundtrack.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great album. Sounds like Sepultura, December 21, 2001
Or I guess Sepultura sound like Kreator, since this album came out before "Schizophrenia" and "Beneath the Remains." I read a review of "Beneath the Remains" that said that album and "Reign in Blood" were the only albums that successfully encompassed both thrash and death metal, but I would have to add this album to the list as well. Many of the same elements that characterized other early thrash-death classics from Slayer and Sepultura are here: the lightning-fast riffs, the interplay between lead and rhythm guitars, the fast and thunderous drumming, and rumbling bass lines. Their lead singer spits out vocals with Tom Arayaesque speed, with some hints of the death growl mixed in. The musicians do an excellent job, nothing fancy, but they work well together in creating some very fast and brutal music. In conclusion, if you think metal reached its peak with albums like "Master of Puppets," "Beneath the Remains," and "Reign in Blood," I highly recommend this album.
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by Kreator 
