Seeing as though WARBRINGER vocalist John Kevill pretty much shits obscure thrash bands, we thought it would be beneficial to our loyal junkies if he were to school them in the fine art of obscure thrash. So, every once in a while, John will write up a piece about a band you absolutely need to check the fuck out in a little piece we call ThrashBringer. We start things off slow with the not so obscure KREATOR:
Probably the first thrash band that really made me click with the genre was Kreator. At the point that I first heard Pleasure to Kill and Coma of Souls, which I got at the same time, my exposure to thrash had been pretty limited; I was mostly into the more traditional metal stuff. I hadn't really gone far past Priest and Maiden. I was into some speed/power metal too, like Blind Guardian and early Helloween, but this was a different and more vicious beast altogether. The first couple times I heard Pleasure to Kill I thought it was a total mess, it was rawer, sloppier, and all around nastier than anything I'd heard up to that point. But then it clicked. THIS ALBUM IS HERE TO BRING YOU ZE DEATH! The songwriting is there too, and the thickly German accented vox (for both Mille and Ventor) is evil as evil gets (AWAIT! ZE AXE IN YOUR BACK!) .
I consider the first 5 Kreator albums to be total classics, each one notable in its own way, getting more progressive and technical on each release but never losing the intensity and heaviness. Extreme Agression and Coma of Souls both have a tech-thrash edge to them, but they still rip your face off. I'd put the classic Kreator output over the classic period of any of the big 4, or possibly anyone else in thrash. Still one of my all time favorite bands, and a huge influence on our music. We are gonna be touring with them in the states, It'll be amazing for me as a fan to be opening up for one of my favorite bands every night.
WARBRINGER is on tour now with FINTROLL. Click here for details. Stay tuned for more ThrashBringer in the coming weeks.
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