Kreator Album: “Renewal”

What distinguish this album from the former and the latter Kreator albums are that:

1. Slow(er).

2. Have synth effects

3. Downtuned vocals

4. Downtuned guitars

So is it a bad album? No way. This is one of the best (for me it IS) Kreator albums ever. Political lyrics, aggressive sound, riffs & riffs... Euro-thrash in its purest form...

I think the reviews on this are a bit too high, but I'm glad it didn't get slammed like I thought it would. This album was an experiment for Kreator, incorporating industrial sounds and lackluster production that caught all the fans off guard, including myself. What really hurt this album was that it followed Extreme Aggression & Coma Of Souls, arguably 2 of the finest thrash albums ever recorded, not to mention all their earlier work, but these 2 albums in particular found Kreator with a tight sound with very meaty guitars and great production. Renewal is lacking in all these departments EXCEPT the songwriting. To prove my point, listen to the Renewal tracks on Scenarios of Violence or any live recording...they rip! What can become bland to listeners on Renewal sounds completely different elsewhere. I liked this album from the beginning despite the total 180 degree turn they took. Kreator has given us fans so much great music and it's nice to know that even their worst album is still much better than a lot of other stuff out there. I personally would like to thank them for making my neck sore on many occasions!

With albums from bands like Opeth, Meshuggah and In Flames getting reviews into the hundreds, it's amazing that an awesome album like this has 3 reviews. I guess it shows the popularity of Kreator these days. They are a band that didn't weather the classic thrash downfall very well, and this album came out at that time. The ironic thing is I think a lot of the bands like those I listed above have evolved into the sound of this album. One reviewer even stated that Meshuggah "pioneered 'Polyrythmics'" which he describes as layering two different beats. That made me immediately think of the song Renewal on this album which carries 2 radically different guitar riffs at the same time. Interestingly this album came out almost a decade earlier than Meshuggah's.

I think Kreator was way ahead of their time with this album and it probably turned many fans off. Upon first listen, I wasn't even sure if it was the same band. As I also mentioned, it was released at a bad time for "thrash". As a result, this album and Kreator in general haven't got the respect they deserve. I haven't kept up with Kreator's goings-ons very well since this album, but I did pick up Cause for Conflict which I didn't find anywhere near as interesting as this album. Unfortunately, it sounded like they were trying to get back to their roots a little and nothing stood out.

Winter Martyrium and Renewal are the stand out tracks, but the entire album has an incredible repeat listen-ability.

Between 1985-1990 Kreator had released no less than seven albums & EPs and had established themselves as one of the premiere thrash bands; but by the early 90s they were understandably ready for a change. Hence, 1992's RENEWAL.

RENEWAL adds industrial elements and a more straight-foward riffing style (i.e. less thrashy). Mille Petrozza matches this with vocals that are less shrill and more Hetfield-ish. Speaking of Hetfield, RENEWAL has somewhat of a Metallica vibe, somewhere between AND JUSTICE FOR ALL and THE BLACK ALBUM, albeit closer to the former. There's also a strong 'Viking era' Bathory semblance as well.

Although the cd lists nine songs there are actually only eight seeing as how track 6 "Realitatskontrolle" is just a bunch of industrial noises. I admit that I usually only listen to half of the eight songs, which are "Winter Martyrium," "Renewal," "Karmic Wheel" and "Depression Unrest"; the latter three are particularly notable, easily ranking with metal's all-time best. The other four songs aren't bad either, just not as memorable; my favorite is the interesting "Reflection," whereas the rest are more manic, but none of them are total dogs.

Highlights include: the mellow and moody interlude in the middle of "Karmic Wheel" backed by a soundtrack of some kind of meeting that evidently takes a tragic & violent turn; the primal drive of "Renewal"; the atmospheric opening to "Depression Unrest" and, later, the outstanding lead solo.

Some Kreator fans look down on RENEWAL because of the supposed experimentation. Don't listen to 'em; this is an important Kreator cd.

Europe after the rain and Depression unrest are great songs, the rest is just average.