Kreator "Pleasure To Kill / Flag Of Hate" CD (bonustracks)

Tracks 1-9: Pleasure to Kill

Tracks 10-12: Flag Of Hate 

Certain albums transcend their genres ("thrash" in this case); some through universally appealing songwriting, others by finding a musical attribute and perfecting it. In the case of Pleasure To Kill, that attribute is violence. In my Darkness Descends review, I mentioned that Slayer was a crossroads; one path led to raw ugliness, the other led to slick production that would well define its riffs as bricks to be smashed over your head. This album asks “can’t you have both?” Now that is not to say that this album destroys Dark Angel nor Slayer in their respective categories. It doesn’t have the magic reverb free touch of Rick Rubin, yet there is just enough definition to each riff that you will lose a piece of your spinal cord upon contact. On top of that there is just enough rawness to provide that atmosphere that made Ride The Lightning so enduring and charming. It quite fits the phrase “the best of both worlds.”
I didn’t know how to handle this album at first because it had the most unorthodox fast drum beat I’d ever heard up to that point. It wasn’t a blast beat, and it wasn’t a super fast rhythm like on Darkness Descends. It was just as if Ventor decided to play as fast as sloppily as he could (even though the playing is anything but sloppy) and hope that Mille could build riffs around. Despite such unorthodox execution, it provides a perfect foundation. Or rather a foundation destroying earthquake, as the rhythm section gives this album that the ground is about to give way to the Earth's molten layers below. Ventor is like a drunken master in this regard.
But of course, the real reason why we’re here, the RIFFS! Believe me, Slayer is jealous of every riff on this album; jealous they didn’t come up with them that is. Special mention has to go to the riff in the middle of Riot of Violence. This is perhaps the only thrash break in history that can challenge Angel of Death's spot on the throne. It was like a thousand workshop saw-blades ripping me to pieces. Whenever that part comes in I must snap my neck. At any time. Even when I’m running. Another reason this album transcends thrash is that the riffs are so ugly and brutal they elevate this album into a death metal feel. I’ve always held a theory. In 1985 death metal was given it’s first album in Seven Churches. Then in 1987, Scream Bloody Gore, another evolutionary step appeared. I postulate that this album serves as a bridge between those two albums. Kreator would get much more credit for death metal if they had stuck to a death metal sound, but much like Sodom and Destruction, they moved from whatever extreme they were sonically occupying on to a pure thrash metal sound. Alex Webster has actually referred to Kreator in general as death metal when discussing vocal styles on the Centuries of Torment documentary. While Kreator over time have been proven to be thrash, I would absolutely call Pleasure to Kill not just a death metal album, but a death metal cornerstone.
This another all-time genre defining masterpiece that separates the men from the boys. If you don’t own this, get it, or taste the blood from your lips as you die.

Official promo video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...