Aside from prominent fellow European thrash legends such as DESTRUCTION and SODOM, KREATOR has been dishing out thrash anthems since the 80’s. After releasing a few disappointing albums in the 90’s, KREATOR rejuvenated their career with the 2005 classic - Enemy of God. The new disc, Hordes of Chaos continues the style of old school thrash with a lot of melody thrown in.

A riff reminiscent of METALLICA’s “Blackened” kicks off Hordes of Chaos, and the listener can already tell that it’s going to be a thrash-filled headbanging album. “Warcurse” continues the high energy, and you can feel Mille’s ferocious power as he belts out the chorus at the top of his lungs. While his vocals can get somewhat monotonous at times, he does vary his style in “Amok Run” as he shows a softer and cleaner side; but everything falls into place as the heaviness kicks in soon thereafter and all is well. There is a slight drop off towards the middle of the album, but “To the Afterborn” features a shredding solo and an intense climax towards the end of the track. While “Corpses of Liberty” is a nice acoustic interlude, it probably would have fit better as the opening riffs to the closing track “Demon Prince” instead.

There are tons of memorable riffs throughout Hordes of Chaos and fans of all realms of metal should enjoy this release. Crunchy guitar tone, pummeling drums and Mille’s trademark vocals…what more can you ask for? The performance of the band and production of the album is near perfection and KREATOR show the new breed of thrash bands like WARBRINGER how classic thrash metal is done! Prepare for this thrash assault on your ears and appreciate these legends once more. (SPV Records)

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