At first glance of the moody cover, you'd assume
Extreme Aggression was a grungy or gothic affair; an album in the spirit of their 90s output, perhaps. Instead, the fourth album in Kreator's sizeable catalogue is a mature and razor-sharp thrash classic, developing the accomplished style that the band had shown glimpses of on
Terrible Certainty, and for the most part closing the chapter on their proto-death metal pioneering. However,
Terrible Certainty 2.0 this is not.
What sets
Extreme... apart is the quality of each passage of songwriting, and their arrangement. The songs twist, turn, stop and start, with rhythm and tempo at their mercy, whilst the jazz-like drums, chromatic guitars and rough vocals battle for your attention. They'll dive off into a pre-chorus or bridge with no warning, and will catch you out even on repeated listens. Take the title track, which is comprised of approximately 8 different sections, three of which variate as the song tears along. With wild complexity comes the opportunity for self-indulgence that might lead to a loss of effectiveness, but brevity prevents things from getting stale; the longest track on here is 5:35 (the brooding mini-epic "Some Pain Will Last"), and the rest of the tracks average at just under 4 minutes. Even the relatively tepid "Bringer of Torture" only sticks around for 2:15.
Production could easily make or break an album like this. As the 80s progressed, production jobs gradually improved anyway with access to bigger budgets and interest from high-profile producers, but there are plenty of albums that suffered between 88-90:
State of Euphoria,
So Far, So Good... So What?,
...And Justice For All,
Practice What You Preach, to name a few. Impressively, Kreator hit the sweet spot. Each instrument is presented with an optimally dry clarity; there's no struggle distinguishing a snare hit, tremolo or yell, where earlier reverb would have bled each stem together. A pinch of reverb is reserved for the lead work, which gives the album an extra dimension where it may have lacked. Overall, this is a very refreshing listening experience, at a time when other bands seemed to be experiencing or approaching meltdowns.
The rhythm guitars, vocals and drums on
Extreme... are amongst my favourite performances in the genre. Mille effortlessly lays down both precise, rapid riffs, with mosh-heavy power chords, and his gasping growls effectively flow against and with the rhythm to ensure each verse and chorus is an earworm. His leads are short but sweet, adding a melodic edge to the often dissonant riffing and further showcasing Mille's top-quality technical ability. With rhythmic and tempo shifting on a dime, Ventor flicks the drums from modest to extreme and back again, to the point where it can feel as though he is dictating things. It's not overly complicated stuff, but perfectly complements the other instruments, ensuring the drums are not simply part of the background, but actively powering the music.
The few flaws of
Extreme... almost feel irrelevant when I'm assigning it such a high rating. Sure, the bass guitar isn't always audible, quietly accompanying the band much like Araya does for Slayer, but its presence is certainly felt. As mentioned above, the mediocre "Bringer of Torture" isn't as satisfying as the surrounding tracks, but such is the quality of those other tracks. Honestly, it's an album that will always divide opinion - it isn't as violent or cutthroat as Kreator's earlier output, and isn't as refined as the next album, and yet the formula here is one that resonates with me the most, to my surprise.
Many say that, with good reason, it all came together for Kreator on
Coma of Souls. It is more bombastic, straight-forward and appealing to a wider audience. To me, the polished
Coma... lacks a certain edge though;
Extreme Aggressions is an experience of engineered chaos unlike any thrash album I've come across.
Official promo video:
youtube.com/watch?v=hWPXcTR2NiM&list=RDhWPXcTR2NiM&start_radio=1
Sample: youtube.com/watch?v=ptJQrGqhEkE&list=RDptJQrGqhEkE&start_radio=1
