Kreator - Enemy Of God
After the stunning return to form in 2001's "Violent Revolution", I was eagerly anticipating this latest Kreator record and by and large it does the job if in a bit less effective manner. "Enemy Of God" starts off very much in the vein of their last record with the scorching title track building a head of steam that is quickly followed by a succession of solid mid-paced thrash numbers that highlight Kreator's ability to write some of the best thrash grooves in the business.
Nothing here is mind blowing or even that different from their previous work but it's executed perfectly and sounds just different enough to keep you interested. A big part of that different sound is a new melodic undercurrent that gives a nod to some of the newer metal bands. There's a lot more dual lead guitar riffs worked into the songs as opposed to just blazing fast solos.
Besides a new emphasis on more melodic passages, the other big difference between this material and their older work is the speed. The songs here never achieve the vicious pace of classic albums like "Extreme Aggression" or "Coma Of Souls" but you can hear hints of similar riffs in many places, just not quite as fast. To purists this may be enough to give a pass on this album but it would be shame to dismiss this album just because it's not as fast as stuff they wrote fifteen years ago.
"Enemy Of God" is definitely a worthy addition to the Kreator catalog, especially in light of some of the junk they were putting out in the late nineties, but it's not quite as good as "Violent Revolution". Even though the songs here are dealt from the same deck stylistically, I can't help but get the feeling "Violent Revolution" has the better hand in the form of faster, more traditional Kreator fare. That disc is pretty much solid from start to finish whereas "Enemy Of God" has relies a bit too much on melody versus the straight out thrash Kreator is famous for delivering in spades.
Nothing here is mind blowing or even that different from their previous work but it's executed perfectly and sounds just different enough to keep you interested. A big part of that different sound is a new melodic undercurrent that gives a nod to some of the newer metal bands. There's a lot more dual lead guitar riffs worked into the songs as opposed to just blazing fast solos.
Besides a new emphasis on more melodic passages, the other big difference between this material and their older work is the speed. The songs here never achieve the vicious pace of classic albums like "Extreme Aggression" or "Coma Of Souls" but you can hear hints of similar riffs in many places, just not quite as fast. To purists this may be enough to give a pass on this album but it would be shame to dismiss this album just because it's not as fast as stuff they wrote fifteen years ago.
"Enemy Of God" is definitely a worthy addition to the Kreator catalog, especially in light of some of the junk they were putting out in the late nineties, but it's not quite as good as "Violent Revolution". Even though the songs here are dealt from the same deck stylistically, I can't help but get the feeling "Violent Revolution" has the better hand in the form of faster, more traditional Kreator fare. That disc is pretty much solid from start to finish whereas "Enemy Of God" has relies a bit too much on melody versus the straight out thrash Kreator is famous for delivering in spades.
