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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Violent Revolution, August 6, 2005
The Thrash scene changed irreversibly in the early 1990s, with the rise of Death Metal in the underground grabbing all the attention and leading the way in innovation. There were also the first faint stirrings of the spectre of Black Metal too. There was no blindingly obvious way forward, so bands tried a number of approaches to the changing tide. Metallica and Megadeth slowed down and aimed at commercial acceptance. Anthrax and Flotsam and Jetsam shed members and went Rock. Slayer and Overkill didn't seem to notice, and just ploughed on regardless. Celtic Frost gave up. Kreator looked outside Metal for inspiration, and came up with a formula for reinvention, even if it wasn't well received at first.
`Renewal' saw Kreator slow down somewhat but their sound was powered up by incorporating Industrial and Hardcore into the mix. The result was a crushing album, but it threw off a lot of traditional Thrash fans because it simply wasn't a traditional Thrash album.
Most obvious was the change in Mille Petrozza's vocal delivery. Gone were his razor sharp screeches, replaced instead by a throaty Hardcore style shout. Also gone were the breakneck rhythm guitar riffs Kreator were infamous for, traded for a more measured, gutsier sound. Drummer extraordinaire Ventor also had a bit of a rest. The frantic double bass driven physical workouts he'd been peddling for the best part of a decade had metamorphosed into straightforward but precise and mechanical rhythms, topped with electronic flourishes.
There is no way the band would have released songs as adventurous as the plaintive "Karmic Wheel" during the restrictive musical climate of the 1980s. A study in dynamics and structure, the song starts with a despondent, gloomy vocals and an understated riff. It leads to an extended atmospheric, almost trippy passage, where tortured souls emerge from a vortex before returning to the main riff, which disappears leaving only the bass and drums to carry the song.
The experimentation and innovation is apprent all through the album. The short "Realitatskontrolle" takes the Industrial influences to their experimental extreme, with no guitar, a distorted bassline and an effects laden vocal loop. The intro to "Europe After The Rain" is straight from the Discharge school of hateful discordant Hardcore. However, it doesn't stay quite so straightforward. The song also features Ventor's famous double kick fury, bass-led breakdown passages, and a frantic speedfreak solo. Despite being so twisted, it is still the closest song on the album to the traditional Thrash sound.
Kreator's previous album `Coma Of Souls' was the zenith of the sound the band pioneered in 1984 with `Endless Pain'. There was no way forward from there without treading water or going over old ground. Unfortunately, a lot of fans could not see the creative well had run dry for the band, and labelled `Renewal' a sell out. `Renewal' is a reinvention, not a sell out. It requires some effort on the part of the listener to try to grasp what the band was trying to do and those who make the effort will be justifiably rewarded.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Different, but still the best of Kreator, August 31, 2005
What distinguish this album from the former and the latter Kreator albums are that:
1. Slow(er).
2. Have synth effects
3. Downtuned vocals
4. Downtuned guitars
So is it a bad album? No way. This is one of the best (for me it IS) Kreator albums ever. Political lyrics, aggressive sound, riffs & riffs... Euro-thrash in its purest form...
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Underrated Gem, November 5, 2003
I've read peoples' complaints that this recording is too muffled sounding, only contains a few good songs and was one responsible for the "downfall of thrash." I completely disagree. First of all, Kreator experiment on every album they've made by redefining their own vision of metal. On Extreme Agression, they solidified their songwriting skills and transistioned from above-average thrash to burgeoning metal maturity. Coma of Souls is a great album and a landmark in thrash. The record's major-label production brought Kreator's power forward like never before. Many people were expecting Coma of Souls pt. 2 before Renewal was released but from a musician's perspective it gets a bit dull constantly rehashing the same style, album to album. To be honest, Renewal is very much in the same vain as Coma of Souls' lyrical themes (abuse of power, environmental destruction, war) as well as musical structure. The difference is that songs on Rewnewal have some slower tempos and really great explorations of dynamics. Also, Ventor's drumming is just incredible. He experiments a lot with different hi-hat techniques and programming (espeically on the self-penned "Realitatskontrolle.") His drum sound is a bit different but I wouldn't say it is muffled (as others have indicated). The snare is slightly higher up in the mix but is recorded seemingly "dry," without reverb. Remember, that the same unjustly harsh criticism was levelled upon Metallica's ...An Justice for All for the same reasons. Now the album is considered among the finest in hard music history. Anyway, if you like Kreator (or any extreme music) give this album a chance. It's often available through an Amazon marketplace seller for pretty cheap because it's received a lot of negative criticism. However, if you are open minded about music, you're in for a treat.
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