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.