KREATOR Interview

It is often said that the San Francisco Bay area was thrash metal?s hotbed of creativity, a true statement, to be sure. But for those who are not in the know, across the Atlantic there was another locale of equal importance to the genre: Germany. And it was Sodom, Destruction and the almighty Kreator who spearheaded this pioneering Teutonic movement. Following a couple of experimental releases - ?Outcast? included samples and loops, while ?Endorama? featured vocal melodies and gothic overtones - Kreator has ?returned to its roots,? as clich?d as that may sound, with ?Violent Revolution.? During their first US tour in over half a decade, the Gauntlet?s Jay Gorania was fortunate enough to speak with Kreator?s front-man, Mille Petrozza, about the rebirth of thrash, his loathing of ignorance, and the right of one to defend his/her individuality by what ever means necessary.




The Gauntlet: You?ve recently completed a European tour with your fellow countrymen, Sodom and Destruction, who have recently put out high quality releases. There are other European acts that are releasing great albums as well, such as the Haunted, Terror 2000 and Necrodeath. And in the North Eastern part of the States, Shadow?s Fall and God Forbid, although they aren?t pure thrash bands, are receiving much praise for their thrash inspired music. It seems that thrash metal is making a comeback of sorts.




Mille: It depends on the band. I think there?s definitely a certain amount of enthusiasm about this kind of music again. Maybe it?s because some bands released good records, like the Haunted did ?The Haunted Made Me Do It,? which is a really good record. And lots of the Swedish stuff is pretty good. To me, it?s all about the quality of the music that matters. All of a sudden it seems like a lot of the media is interested in this form of music again. And it helps, of course.




The Gauntlet: I understand that ?Outcast? and ?Endorama? were ?different? because you wanted to explore terrain that you had previously not traveled. And while I do think that these albums are good, when I throw in a Kreator disc, I?m expecting to feel the rush that I get from a blazing thrash release, the feeling I get when I listen to ?Pleasure to Kill?(Kreator?s 1986 thrash metal classic).




Mille: I totally understand what you?re saying, but I?m not the kind of person who puts out a solo project. Everything I do, I release under the name Kreator. ?Endorama? and ?Outcast? were definitely not what people would expect us to sound like. Some people were a little disappointed, (while) others felt the same way as you. They?re like, ?this is a good record, but it?s not Kreator.? I understand that. I think ?Violent Revolution? is a lot more Kreator than, say, ?Endorama,? which is still Kreator, but in a different mindscape.




I just wanted to try something different, to see if I could manage to come up with a more melodic dark wave kind of album. That?s why I did ?Endorama.? I always wanted to do that. It?s almost like a tribute to some of my early influences. I?m a big fan of the 80s wave, the English stuff that came out. I?m talking about bands like (Fields of the) Nephilim, Bauhaus and Joy Division.




The Gauntlet: What brought you back to the driving thrash approach for this album?




Mille: I?ve done the exploration of other styles on ?Endorama.? It?s like discovering new things on a creative level. Being in a band that?s recording records all the time means that each step you do in your musical evolution is being recorded. So that?s why you do and hear albums like ?Outcast? and ?Endorama.? We were trying out new things. You should be able to do what ever you want. You should have that freedom. That?s what music is all about. If it?s not like that, you?re being a product. You become a product of the industry. And that doesn?t work for me.




But we did a tour, and the songs didn?t quite work. We had so many samples and loops going on (that) we had to play to (a) click track, and that didn?t really feel right to me. That?s not what Kreator is all about. So we left off from there. Then we were thinking, ?What are we going to do? What does Kreator really stand for? And what do people expect? And what can we do to play aggressive without being bored??




The Gauntlet: You?re simply keeping it exciting for yourselves.




Mille: Exactly. So we came up with ?Violent Revolution,? which is kind of a mix between very early material like, lets say, maybe ?Coma of Souls? and what was done on ?Outcast? and ?Endorama.? It has all the elements, it?s still Kreator, and it?s something that we can enjoy. I?m really satisfied with ?Violent Revolution.?




The Gauntlet: I?m upset that I couldn?t see you. But what took you so long to come back to North America?




Mille: Basically, we had problems with our record company. ?Outcast? and ?Endorama? came out on BMG over in Europe. And over here (in the US), it didn?t really get the distribution that it needed for us to be able to come here. (In order) to go to the United States, we need financial support from our record company. Otherwise it would be a disaster, financially. And for those albums, they just wouldn?t give us the support. But it?s kind of good that we haven?t been here for so long, because people are very enthusiastic about us being here. Most of the shows have been great. The bad thing about this tour (is that) it?s a little too short. We didn?t hit many cities where we have done very well. Next time. Next time.




The Gauntlet: Do you think that could be another couple of years from now?




Mille: No, no! That?s going to be next year. We?re already working on it. We?re planning on coming back to the States in the spring.




The Gauntlet: Speaking of the current tour, Destruction, Cephalic Carnage and December are the opening acts. That?s quite a diverse line-up in terms of style.




Mille: Destruction: we actually picked because we toured with them in Europe. Cephalic and December: I knew they had a very good reputation and I?m very happy to have them on the tour. They really add something to the bill. They are completely different from what we do, but they fit very well.




The Gauntlet: Your tour manager says that you guys are really exhausted at this point. Will you be taking a break any time soon?




Mille: We?ve done more than a hundred shows for ?Violent Revolution,? and yea, I?m a little exhausted by now. Ha! Ha! Next year we?ll do a live dvd and a live record, and we?ll come back to the States just for that. We won?t tour Europe next year.




The Gauntlet: You?ve been cited as a major influence to many prominent thrash metal, black metal and death metal bands ? including bands like the Haunted, Cradle of Filth, Marduk and Cannibal Corpse, to name but a few ? and you?ve also played with many of these acts, but I?m curious as to whether or not you ever listen to any of them. What are you listening to nowadays?




Mille: I like all that stuff. I like Immortal a lot. (I?m into) anything (ranging) from the new Nephilim record to the last Arch Enemy.




The Gauntlet: Let me draw you a picture (keep in mind, this is a true story): I was preparing for this interview at my school?s library. A fellow classmate saw me with ?Violent Revolution?s? brutal cover art lying on the table, and he asked me what I was doing. I told him that I was preparing for an interview with Kreator, a German thrash metal band. To this, he ever so intelligently replied, ?a metal band from Germany! They must be Nazis!?




Mille: That is very low-level thinking. Someone is from Germany, so he has to be a Nazi. That?s like saying, ?oh, you?re from the United States. You have to be a redneck, or a cowboy, or what ever.? Come on! This is like caveman comments. Yes, I have heard stupid things like that before. I mean, what the fuck?!? This shows you how much people know about Germany. Over here (in the US), people don?t know about Europe. The other day we were at a bar and we spoke to some girls. I figured that they were not very bright, so I fucked with their minds a bit. I was like, ?I?m from Russia, and Russia is a part of Finland.? And she would believe it.




The Gauntlet: Seriously?




Mille: Yes! It was ridiculous! So, I get this feeling that a lot of people in the States don?t really care about what?s going on in the rest of the world. That?s really sad.




The Gauntlet: Unfortunately, there are many ignorant people in this country. There?s a general sense of apathy when it comes to viewing and understanding the rest of the world.




Mille: I don?t really know much, but I know something about the United States. At least I know that Texas is not the same as San Francisco. But over here, a lot of people don?t even seem to know that there?s a difference between Spain and, let?s say, fucking Scandinavia.




But this is like the metal thing in general. Metal is supposedly responsible for suicides, murders and all of these ridiculous things that it?s obviously not responsible for. It?s just a form of music, a form of art. People interpret and put too much into it. If you?re metal, they think you?re being brainwashed. That?s just wrong. It?s like saying, ?you?re from Germany. You have to be a Nazi;? or, ?you?re into metal. You have to be into Satan, and you want to kill babies!? It?s just bullshit! It?s just ignorance, like you said. There are some people who don?t know any better. And through these comments, if I hear something like that, I know what to think about the person that makes the comment.




The Gauntlet: You?ve always had very cynical lyrics directed towards humanity, but I believe that they?re far from being in line with some of extreme black metal?s misanthropy. It seems, rather, that you?re criticizing humanity for all of its inherent flaws and for what it has become - the aforementioned display of ignorance that I encountered at school, for example. Do you have any hope for humankind?




Mille: I?m not, like you said, very misanthropic, but I?m not very optimistic either. My views and lyrics lie somewhere in between. I would say it?s realistic without being street level. I try to put it with a deeper meaning where it?s more personal, the way I see things. But you?re right, it?s not misanthropic. I don?t hate the world as much as I used to, but I think there?s still at least ninety percent of what?s going on in the world that pisses me off. But then again, there?s the ten percent that makes up for it, that makes life worth living. So I enjoy life. I?m not misanthropic. I like talking to people, and I like the fact that I get to know people on tour or where ever I?m at.




I think things can improve, slightly. But, first of all, the general attitudes must change. I think education is a big issue, so we don?t have to deal with ignorance. People have to be educated. People have to open their minds. That?s what it comes down to.




The Gauntlet: Is ?Violent Revolution? a metaphor, or do you literally mean that when all else fails and your back is against the wall, violence becomes a necessary evil?




Mille: I think it?s definitely necessary. I think it?s both metaphoric and literal. And like you said, if there?s no other way?




It?s like, you have your opinion, and then you run into someone that has (a) different opinion. And just so the person likes you, you adjust to his opinion. Sometimes it?s worse. Sometimes they try to force you to change, or they pick on you if you?re different from them. I think that?s wrong. You should be able to stand up for what you believe, even if this pisses some people off. I think you should not only stick up (for yourself); if they push you, push back. You can get physical. To have an opinion is what defines your personality. And a lot of people lose that.


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Tags:  Kreator  , Mille Petrozza, interviews

J Gorania    November 30, -0001