SPV

Kreator is one of the cornerstones of Thrash Metal, one of those go-to bands for anyone who is delving deeper into thrash beyond the Bay Area regulars. During the mid-90's Kreator went through an experimental period, testing the waters with several different styles that alienated much of their fanbase (I'll still defend Endorama to death though). At the turn of the century they returned to the Thrash fold and even if their return was a symptom of a greater Thrash revival (which I've long found redundant and irritating), they did deliver two powerful albums that belong right up there with their 80's classics. But Hordes Of Chaos, their newest one? Not so much.

Hordes Of Chaos, in a nutshell, essentially sounds like leftovers from Enemy Of God. It has that same vibe of the previous album, just somewhat past its expiration date. There are a couple of interesting ideas floating around, though very few of them can hold things together for the duration of a whole song. The title track contains a riff that sounds eerily similar to an early Sentenced song. I can't place the song at this late an hour but I'm positive its from North From Here. Normally a comparison to North From Here would be encouraging, yet Kreator somehow mucks it up. Songs like Destroy What Destroys You and Radical Resistance have a "heard it before, got the crummy t-shirt" feel to them. Amok Run had something good going until Mille starts singing about dying like Jesus Christ at the end of the song. Really, you went there?

Of all the songs on Hordes Of Chaos, the only one that remotely feels like a future Kreator classic is To The Afterborn. It does have a Metallica-like chorus to it, but at least it manages to differentiate itself from the rest of the bunch. The song really does pick up a great deal during its latter half. Its the only song where it feels that the band was even trying to make something worth listening to.

Perhaps the worst thing I can say about Hordes Of Chaos isn't that its a bad album, but rather its a decidedly average album. A bad album I can take. I'm very good at tearing those apart piece by piece. A notably bad album is one you can easily spot the flaws of and have no problem giving its just due. But an average, mediocre and remarkably pedestrian album? To be somewhere in the middle but not having the necessary qualities to sneak by as being merely good? That may be the saddest thing of all, especially from a band with the capabilities to do so much more. For a band that constantly speaks about rebelling against authority and oppression, this is one album that feels too safe and conformist.


01. Hordes Of Chaos
02. Warcurse
03. Escalation
04. Amok Run
05. Destroy What Destroys You
06. Radical Resistance
07. Absolute Misanthrophy
08. To The Afterborn
09. Corpse Of Liberty
10. Demon Prince

Score: 5/10