Reviews list for Kreator - Out of the Dark... Into the Light (1988)

I make no apologies for my deep love of German thrash metal icons Kreator, specifically their 1986-1990 period. In fact, if I had my way then they’d be a part of the Big Four & I’m not talking about the Teutonic one either. I first discovered Kreator through the “Betrayer” video clip through a late-night Australian music video program called Rage in 1989/90 & never looked back. I very quickly picked up everything I could find from the band, including this E.P. which I secured on CD. Over the years though, I’ve tended to regard “Out Of The Dark… Into The Light” as an inessential cash-grab more than anything else & have largely overlooked it in favour of Kreator’s more highly regarded studio material. Have I been a little harsh? I suspect I might have been so I’ve decided to review my position for the first time in well over a decade this week.

“Out Of The Dark… Into the Light” is essentially a five-song combination of studio & live tracks that served as a stop-gap between 1987’s “Terrible Certainty” third album & 1989’s wonderful “Extreme Aggression” record. The two studio tracks include one new original in “Impossible To Cure” which is an excitingly raw & shredtastic thrasher that’s perhaps not as classic as some of Kreator’s best material but is a particularly solid inclusion nonetheless. The other studio track is a cover version of NWOBHM outfit Raven’s “Lambs To The Slaughter” which is taken from their 1981 debut album “Rock Until You Drop”. I’ve always struggled with Raven to tell you truth & the original version of this song didn’t exactly set my world on fire so I’m not surprised that this cover came across as really flat. It sees Kreator taking more of a heavy/speed metal approach with the occasional use of higher-pitched vocals from Mille & it simply doesn’t work in my opinion. In truth, I think this track has impacted my overall impression of the E.P. a little more than it should have over the years too.

The three live tracks included were taken from a 1988 performance at the Dynamo Club in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. All three songs represent big tracks in Kreator’s back catalogue however they do tend to be some of the more overrated ones & the performances are very rough indeed. In fact, the title track from “Terrible Certainty” is presented as somewhat of a dog’s breakfast with its timing & precision issues seeing me struggling to find much enjoyment in it. “Riot of Violence”, on the other hand, has always thrived in the live environment & that’s still the case here, despite the sloppy musicianship. “Awakening of the Gods” is certainly a more impressive song than it’s given the chance to be here with the rhythm guitar parts seeming to be far too much for one of the axemen but it’s still a strong enough example of Teutonic thrash to keep me interested.

So you can see that “Out Of The Dark… Into The Light” is very much a mixed bag that’s been thrown together from a bunch of disparate & imperfect off-cuts but I can’t deny that there’s just enough of interest to justify it’s release. The raucous & slightly abrasive production job is perhaps the last time we'd see that from Kreator with "Extreme Aggression" seeing them starting to clean up their act & it works reasonably well here. Extreme metal bands performing heavy metal cover versions in a style that’s different from their usual one is not generally a practice I profess to support & that’s once again been proven to be the case here. It’s amazing how much of a difference there is between the skill levels shown in the live performances here versus 2003’s “Live Kreation” double live album too. They’re very much chalk & cheese. In saying that though, I don’t think many people listen to Kreator for their technicality & the exciting energy levels are still there so the rawer presentation isn’t a disaster, even if “Terrible Certainty” struggles to stay afloat. Overall, I’d suggest that “Out Of The Dark… Into The Light” is certainly inessential & should be regarded as very much an only-for-the-diehards release but if my rating is anything to go by then it would appear that I must class myself as one of those.