Kreator
Enemy of God

March 2005
Released: 2005, SPV
Rating: 1.5/5
Reviewer: Madman

VIOLENT REVOLUTION was supposed to be Kreator’s big return; their return to the hall of the thrash gods. I thought it was pretty lacklustre and boring overall. You had half an album of some pretty kick ass (yet extremely predictable) thrash metal but then there was another half of an album that vaguely resembled Kreator and was probably closer to much of the melodic Gothenburg brigade. “Why the hell they’d do that?” was my immediate reaction. In the end I took VIOLENT REVOLUTION as Kreator’s stepping stone, I mean, who would expect a band to go right from doing something as horrid as ENDORAMA right back to thrash metal? To me, it was just that step in the right direction before Kreator really came back on their next album to rip my face off. Well here’s 2005 and here comes that album I was looking so forward to.



After listening to this album many times now I have to say that disappointment, or more specifically boredom, reigns supreme. ENEMY OF GOD is very much just VIOLENT REVOLUTION PART 2, good news for those that loved that album but bad news for me. All the things I disliked about the last album are here all over again although they’re even more prevalent and the amount of all out thrash without dual or Gothenburg melodies is just about non-existent. It’s also far too predictable, when you hear the opening riff you’ll probably be able to predict exactly what the rest of the song sounds like and where riff changes happen. Which gives a horrible, “been there done that” attitude to the whole thing. Mille still sounds pissed off, the solos are admittedly pretty good although not really that Kreator-ish, and Ventor’s drumming is still pleasant, although he seems to be more interested in utilizing his double bass for following the riffs all the time.



The album kicks off with the title track, easily the best here but in 2005 Kreator at their best is still rather flawed. What a great way to start the album, supreme thrash riffs and a bare bones shouted chorus (which seems to be the “generic Kreator” chorus by now), giving a promising outlook on the album until about two and a half minutes into the song where they have this horrible breakdown. It’s pretty much downhill from there, even the solo later on is pretty bland before hitting a section later which, like the chorus, is a blatant retread of just about any Kreator song and initially I was yelling a line from “Replicas of Life” off VIOLENT REVOLUTION. Now that’s a bad sign if you’ve ever seen one. “Impossible Brutality” is an alright mid-paced chugger with a faster mid-section, mostly reminds me of “Violent Revolution”.



I could probably go into a song by song take on the whole album but I don’t think it would be helpful for anyone. The whole album just feels like uninspired rehash. You have your heavy mid-paced songs, your faster numbers, and a lot of misplaced melody. From the dual lead sections in “Murder Fantasies” and “One Evil Comes - A Million Follow” to most of “Under a Total Blackened Sky”, the band likes to meander their way through Iron Maiden and Gothenburg melodies. I really don’t get it, is the band trying to keep up with the younger bands when the younger bands can’t even keep up with the Kreator of 15 years ago?



I get the sense that the band’s heart isn’t in the right place and that something needs to happen to really shake things up and make them rethink exactly what they’re doing with their song writing. This is bland, uninspired, and catering to a completely different audience than Kreator would like to think. Two thumbs down.