Kreator
““Past Life Trauma””
(Noise)
I’’ve always loved Kreator. When the American metal scene was slowly but surely turning into a bunch of watered down pussies, the German scene was there for me: speedier, ballsier, screeching, wailing guitars, sore throated vocalists giving it their all, and double bass to fast for a jack rabbit to fuck by. Kreator’s Past Life Trauma is a collection celebrating their first seven years together as a band, 1985 through 1992. The years seem arbitrary to me. It takes us from Endless Pain to Renewal. Renewal also happens to be the last album I heard from Kreator so I looked them up online to make sure they were still at large, and indeed they are. In fact it seems nothing has changed as they’re launching out on tour with Sodom and Destruction through Germany this spring. Destruction and Sodom come from way back in the German hay day as well. The more things change, the more they , etc… This “greatest hits” disc is mostly useless to anyone who already owns all Kreator’s early works. I say, “mostly” because there are some rare tracks, four to be precise that dot the album. Half of the rare tracks hold any interest. There’s “After the Attack” which sounds like it came out of the Flag of Hate sessions, and there’s also “Trauma,” an early version of the Renewal track “Winter Martyrium.” Finally, if you’re not familiar with Kreator, but like this Nu-Metal that’s around, then check them out. They helped keep the spirit alive and on fire when America had turned a deaf ear to the ground favoring the lite FM.
