The Teutonic Thrash Thread
Here's my newly created Top Ten Teutonic Thrash Metal Releases of All Time list:
01. Kreator - "Pleasure To Kill" (1986)
02. Kreator - "Flag Of Hate" E.P. (1986)
03. Kreator - "Coma Of Souls" (1990)
04. Kreator - "Extreme Aggression" (1989)
05. Exumer - "Rising Of The Sea" (1987)
06. Sodom - "Better Off Dead" (1990)
07. Sodom - "Persecution Mania" (1987)
08. Sodom - "Agent Orange" (1989)
09. Kreator - "Live Kreation" (2003)
10. Destruction - "Release From Agony" (1987)
Here's my newly adjusted Top Ten Teutonic Thrash Metal Releases of All Time list that now includes Protector's "A Shedding of Skin" at the expense of Destruction's "Release From Agony":
01. Kreator - "Pleasure To Kill" (1986)
02. Kreator - "Flag Of Hate" E.P. (1986)
03. Kreator - "Coma Of Souls" (1990)
04. Kreator - "Extreme Aggression" (1989)
05. Protector - "A Shedding of Skin" (1991)
06. Exumer - "Rising Of The Sea" (1987)
07. Sodom - "Better Off Dead" (1990)
08. Sodom - "Persecution Mania" (1987)
09. Sodom - "Agent Orange" (1989)
10. Kreator - "Live Kreation" (2003)
https://metal.academy/lists/single/93
Kreator - "Flag of Hate" EP (1986)
Released shortly after the murderous Pleasure To Kill, this three-track EP encapsulates Kreator in a blissful 18-minute riff fest. It opens with a reworking of "Flag of Hate" from the debut album, Endless Pain, which illustrates how far the band had already come, this version being much tighter, faster and more aggressive, with the increased production values certainly helping massively on that front. The other two tracks, "Take Their Lives" and "Awakening of the Gods" are longer affairs which see the band in a more expansive mood than the straight-ahead, charging neck-wrenching of "Pleasure To Kill". The songwriting on these two tracks sees the band maturing and starting to move in the direction that would culminate with Coma of Souls, unafraid now to revert to slower tempos at times and to exhibit a lot more control over their impulse to just let rip, so that when they do, I think it is far more effective in this more controlled environment. Of course this increasingly professional and mature evolution comes at a price, with the sheer exuberance and brutal aggression of their early material, particularly Pleasure To Kill, being held in check here. Now, I am sure there are plenty of fans who lamented this direction, but surely Kreator couldn't just keep ploughing the same ultra-violent furrow ad nauseum and needed to display some kind of musical development by this point. No matter what came after, PTK would always still be there, so why would they need to keep remaking it?
Anyway, the two longer tracks see Kreator expanding the scope of their songwriting, possibly influenced by albums like Metallica's Ride the Lightning or To Mega Therion. "Take Their Lives" kicks off at a more measured tempo than we had come to expect from Kreator with a chugging riff that is afforded a nice sharp edge by the production and which accompanies Mille's bile-spitting, barked vocals perfectly, before it kicks up a gear and Mille unleashes a shred-tastic Kerry King-on-steroids guitar solo. A breathing space is then allowed for as the trio hit the eye of the storm and build anticipation with a jagged guitar line before letting it fly once more while Mille tortures another howling solo from his six-stringer. The final track, "Awakening of the Gods" is one of my favourite Kreator tracks, it has several riffs that just go so hard it's unreal and the Slayer-esque solos are devastating slashes of sonic thuggery that should carry a health warning.
I may have gone overboard and made more of the songwriting changes than is justified because this isn't Opeth, this is still Kreator and it is gloriously bitter and vicious teutonic thrash that still has enough to get you wrenching that neck of yours, don't you worry. It's just that that isn't all that Flag Of Hate is about and, sure, the songwriting isn't super sophisticated, but I think they had made good progress on that front here and hit a nice balance between their earlier violent aggression and a more developed song progression. Look I like Pleasure To Kill as much as the next thrash-head, but I think credit should be given where due and here Kreator added a new dimension to their established brutality.
4.5/5
Well said Sonny. "Flag of Hate" was a HHUUGGEE record for me during my formative years & it still well & truly hits that spot today. One criticism I will make is that the more expansive song structures do sound quite pieced together when I listen to it with my more experienced modern-day ears but the raw intensity has lost none of its potency. I regard "Flag of Hate" as my second-favourite Kreator record behind "Pleasure to KIll" these days.
Destruction - Sentence of Death (1984)
Genres: Teutonic Thrash Metal
I never hear anyone talk about the band Destruction these days, but they still get really good reviews. I guess they're one of those bands you just check out if you like thrash history or have a soft spot for the Teutonic stuff. Since I need to review one of their albums for the list challenges on Metal Academy, I started with their debut extended play, Sentence of Death. The apocalyptic spoken intro was cheesy enough as I expect, but even though there's some pretty good riffage here, at this point, I've just heard so much thrash like this, even though this is the really early stuff. Having been released about four months after Metallica's game-changing Ride the Lightning, this sounds pretty generic in comparison and many other thrash albums, even better ones, would sound just like this. I suppose all the dark and thunderous sound effects are their attempt at a sense of art, which is fine, but I'd prefer if their riffs more greatly reflected that. Now for early thrash, this relies on darkened screams, general speed, and decent riffs. They go for a speed metal route that comes off a bit punkish, and can even be seen as a small factor in the early development of black metal. But other than that, there's nothing here that Metallica, or even Venom, didn't do better. It's obvious that writing was of least concern as long as they could be fast and edgy, and they kind of succeed at that. But since it's only a debut EP, it';s obviously not the most well-produced thing on Earth. These guys were obviously young and just wanted to rock the basics of a new world and grab a piece of that Metallica action. Decent, but only really necessary if you're a thrash history buff.
68
Destruction - Infernal Overkill (1985)
Genres: Teutonic Thrash Metal
It's obvious that the band was trying a little harder in the art department to keep things a little more sophisticated, especially from such a progressive intro track. Much more interesting things are done with the hardcore-style riffs, finding clever ways to combine multiple repetitive riffs together for some grand new idea. A very goo example of that is the middle-section to The Ritual, which found ways to be unpredictable despite its lacking progression of, ahem, different notes. But this usually isn't the case. There's still the filler aspect in which production and speed are the major factors. For example, Death Trap just goes on for far too long. It's got some damn good riffs, but it's a bit easy for these guys to draw out five minutes when their biggest concerns are speed and atmosphere. And Tormentor sounds like a broken record until you get to the guitar solo. Hell, the eight-minute closer, Black Death, is basically switching between the same two riffs throughout the run, managing to do less imaginitive things than the four-minute opener. So in a way, it feels like they didn't really care about the fans enough to really write their own Stairway. There are noticeable improvements in the production and a few of the riffs, so there's that, but the fact that they went from the three-minute songs to five minuts with little change in most instances is a little of an insult.
69
Destruction - Eternal Devastation (1986)
Genres: Teutonic Thrash Metal
Big three of Teutonic thrash? I was starting to question such a decision made by 80's society with Destruction's debut EP and debut studio album failing to meet my standards for greatness. I was really hoping for something more artistic this time. judging from the way Curse the Gods put up a couple more tricks, making six minutes feel like four at the same time, I thought to myself I might finally get that are I was lookin6 for. I mean, sure, they fall in the same tempo and stylistic tropes for the most part, but it seemed like they were really trying to get something historical out there. Or so I thought at first. Unfortunately, there are still times where things feel too drawn out yet again. It's obvious that the five-to-six minute edge doesn't generally work for them.What really bothers me about this album is the way the percussion sounds. It's not heavy enough, being almost entirely drowned out by the lead and rhythm guitars. Now the unpredictable sense of art comes back for the shorter songs on Side B, making things interesting again. The drums can even be heard properly. The last track is even a much better example of the aggression and technique that the band's been largely relying on, being much heavier and more powerful than ever. So while this managed to be a slight improvement in writing, it also fixed its production problem in the first half.
71
I'll be posting other Destruction reviews on their album pages. I don't want to flood this forum.