Kreator Album: “Hordes Of Chaos [Digipak]”

It is well recorded, and was recorded more or less 'Live' as portrayed in the DVD, with all the musicians playing the base of the songs together. It isn't nearly as crisp and clear as 'Enemy of God'. But it works. It sounds a little looser and I will say the riffs are nothing new, but very well executed. I love this bands sound, especially in the 'Extreme Aggression' , 'Coma of Souls' era. Therefore, the sound on this disc is to my liking as well as the flow of the disc. Has a good punch.

The tracks themselves line up well with 'Enemy of God'.. If you like Kreator overall you will like this CD. Nothing you haven't come to expect. The best tracks are 'War Curse' and 'Absolute Misanthropy'. Contagious riffs. 'Escalation' is very catchy, great riffing. Just a killer track as well. 'Destroy what Destroys You' is the most accessible song on here, but it is excellent nonetheless. The others fit with the rest of Kreator's catalog. Nothing brand new, They stay in their comfort zone. Mid paced thrash with a solid foundation. Though they do thrash it up in spots pretty hard. Almost (very) Slayer-esque in the Guitar Solo's and vocal delivery. especially on 'Destroy...' The 3-4 minute length of most songs makes them even more lethal. Not much room for the over-melodic stuff.

The reason for the 4 stars? The vocal! Very raw and at times annoying. Mille really gets to the bottom of his gut on this CD. I like it for the most part, but sometimes it just hits those notes that make you shriek! Uncomfortable almost. Sounds like he went for the 'Tom Araya' style with the yelling choruses. I will say I am curious as to why he opted to take this tone throughout 80% of this disc. Makes for a more difficult listen.

But I am a seasoned Kreator fan and other than the vocal, its an A+.

There is a lot of energy. The DVD is decent as well. Shows behind the scenes of the making of this CD. Just a bit tough to keep track of the subtitles! A great value for the price.. Don't pass it up.

2.5 Stars

Shockingly inferior to the nearly *perfect* (there's literally nothing that can be criticized) "Enemy of God," probably the best thrash album since the 1980's, "Hordes of Chaos" is basically nothing more than rehashed, "chaotic" riffs thrown together that accomplish very little in the way of melody, structure, or harmony, and unfortunately there's not a whole lot more than can be said about it. It simply sounds like a warmed over retooling of their earlier work, subtracting any songwriting effort while "adding" vocals the poor quality of which Kreator has never before managed, and there isn't a single track on the album I remember after giving it three listens (and you're not going to find them memorable, either, no matter how hard you try). Additionally, the "live" studio production (basically a gimmick to add an incentive to these very unworthy tracks) does very little to aid the "image" the album is trying to present (apparently, it's supposed to be an "attack," the intention of which I still can't decipher), and simply masks the obvious fact that the band didn't put a trace of effort into the songwriting (in comparison to "Enemy of God," one wonders whether or not these tracks were even "written" by the same people). There's simply nothing on this album that's going to grab your attention, and you'll be rolling your eyes at its banality by the fourth track. Boring, rehashed riff meets boring, rehashed riff, and this goes on and on until it's over, after a measly thirty minutes (give or take), and by the end, you'll simply be *stunned* that it was produced by the same incredible band that created "Enemy of God." I don't know what went wrong, or why they devoted such little effort to the songwriting process this time around, but there's little excuse for it, given that it's been four years since their last album (which was released five years after "Violent Revolution," and the extra time, in that case, was highly beneficial, as the band was able to construct twelve standout tracks and compile them into "Enemy of God" (any one of which is far superior to anything on "Hordes of Chaos")).

Ultimately, I doubt that even diehard fans (minus the very small percentage that will inevitably chime in here) of this band will find anything here that validates their devotion to the group (*publicly* defend it as they might (though actually not listening to it more than once or twice)), and will likely find this to be one of the band's least impacting albums (and I'd be surprised if anyone listens to it more than two or three times before forgetting about it entirely). That said, it's probably near par with the average modern thrash album (garbage), but below par for the band, especially after their (again) phenomenal prior release (which completely, single-handedly reestablished thrash as *the* superior sub-genre of metal). We knew that matching "Enemy of God" would prove to be impossible, but the bottom line, again, is that much more effort could have put into the songwriting on this release, and I've got to state that this album isn't merely a letdown, but an insult to their finally-proven talent. My advice to Amazonian metal-heads: forget this album, and buy Kreator's 2005 masterpiece if you don't already own it...it's a truly brilliant album that *must* be acknowledged as such by any true thrash devotee.

Kreator have really outdone themselves this time, with `Hordes of Chaos,f the German Thrash legends have taken everything that made `Violent Revolution,f and `Enemy of God,f so good, and put it together to form one of the best metal albums of the decade.

Combining a return to roots Thrash Sound with hints of Gothenburg and the odd trace of Metalcore Kreator hit out with riff after riff of breakneck speeds, pounding grooves and dreamy melodic moments, with dual guitar harmonies thatfd put Iron Maiden to shame giving way to all out Thrash metal riffing with catchy double kick drum patterns underneath at a momentfs notice.

The sound is ferocious, heavy at all the right places, clear and crisp when necessary and Millefs voice sounds the best it ever has. Combine this with amazingly catchy choruses like those of title track `Hordes of Chaos,f or `Radical Resistance,f and Kreator are really on to a winner.

Standout tracks like `Amok Run,f and `To The Afterborn,f rival classic era tracks in terms of quality and even outdo them in a number of areas.

`Hordes of Chaos,f feels important, it doesnft feel like just another album, I can easily see people listening to it ten years from and now calling it a classic. It may be a much overused expression but I honestly believe that `Hordes of Chaos,f is genuinely the best thing the band have released since their 1980s heyday.

The special edition comes in a very elaborate fold out package with a DVD which goes into the background of the album, its not exactly essential stuff but its nowhere near the worst making of DVD Ifve ever seen.

Hordes of Chaos is the successor to 2005's impressive Enemy of God, and I don't think it lives up to Kreator's other more recent return-to-form thrash albums (Violent Revolution and the aforementioned Enemy of God). The album begins with Sami Yli-Sirnio playing- an actually quite catchy - melody unaccompanied until his bandmates join the fray and Hordes of Chaos can officially begin. Let me waste no time, the title track is hands-down the best track on this album. It's catchy, creative, energetic, lyrically interesting, and in general everything thrash metal should be. Although placing a shiny piece of copper amongst a pyramid of dog turds will make any scrap of metal seem precious.

The problem isn't the solos, which retain Enemy of God's routine of Mille mindlessly shredding while Sami melodically rebuilds what the former destroys. It's not the choice of topics, which continues thrash metal's preconceived notions of society sucking and people being generally unfeeling zombies who hate everyone (not hypocritical at all, but who am I to judge?). And it's not the fact that this album was recorded live (the band records together simultaneously instead of each bandmate individual recording his part alone), which gives it a really awful garage sound I wouldn't expect or want from a professional band. If you have studios, the ability to use them extensively, spend time to ensure each part is perfect or as close to as possible, and make sure everything is congruent, then why would you choose not to unless you have a "statement" to make?

Nay, the real problem, the real thorn jutting into my spine is just that the whole is not greater then or equal to the sum of it's parts. I.E., the songs simply are not very good. They're not particuarly catchy, several songs contain the same chorus pattern of Mille yelling the name of the song at you until he tires and taps on Sami's shoulder to solo (Amok Run, Warcurse, Destroy what Destroys You are all guilty of this), and the riffs themselves feel uninspired and almost forced. Another thing I REALLY don't like is their borrowing of themes from today's fad and preoccupation with Metalcore -- Heavy Metal's blind, deaf, retarded half-brother who only occasionally pees himself and passes out (I don't like Metalcore). It's not an overt influence, but you tell where and when they took a little dab of breakdown-salt and sprinkled over the thrash metal topsoil just to ruin what would be fine on it's own.

To summarize, Hordes of Chaos is an album that I really think could have and should have been better. I like the included DVD which contains a fairly brief look at the making of the album, but it doesn't really show much of interest -- yes, we can all infer as to what recording an album entails (playing instruments in front of microphones, mixing and mastering, etc), so it really isn't much more then a movie trailer that serves as something to wet your tongue with anticipation and saliva until the real show begins. But then again you can't justify a mediocre album with extra material.

Final Thought: Listen before you buy, or borrow from friend. You won't really be missing much.

Kreator has come a long way from their early days. I liked their progression, particularly through the Outcast/Endorama era, with Tommy Vetterli(Coroner) on guitar. They've gone back to the Extreme Aggression/Coma of Souls style since pretty much. The last 3 cds are relatively similar. I probably like Violent Revolution best of those. Petrozza continues to do solid work, its well worth having.