''Pleasure to Kill'' is the second studio album by German
thrash metal
Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...
band
Kreator
Kreator is a German thrash metal band from Essen, formed in 1982. Their current lineup consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Miland "Mille" Petrozza, drummer Jürgen "Ventor" Reil, lead guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö, and bassist Frédér ...
, released in March 1986 by
Noise Records
Noise Records is a German heavy metal record label founded in 1983 by German music industry personality Karl-Ulrich Walterbach as an expansion of his company Modern Music Records. It was sold to the Sanctuary Records Group in 2001 and ceased any ...
.
''Pleasure to Kill'' is widely considered a landmark thrash metal classic,
along with ''
Master of Puppets
''Master of Puppets'' is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Metallica, released on March 3, 1986, by Elektra Records. Recorded in Denmark at Sweet Silence Studios with producer Flemming Rasmussen, it was the band's last album ...
'' by
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
, ''
Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?'' by
Megadeth
Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along wit ...
, ''
Reign in Blood
''Reign in Blood'' is the third studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer, released on October 7, 1986, by Def Jam Recordings."Touring Blood", ''Decibel Magazine'', April 2008, p. 57. The album was the band's first collaboration with pro ...
'' by
Slayer
Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style ...
, ''
Eternal Devastation
''Eternal Devastation'' is the second full-length album by German thrash metal band Destruction, released on July 12, 1986.
It showed that the band, while still rooted in the speed metal/proto-black metal-influenced style of material evident on ...
'' by
Destruction
Destruction may refer to:
Concepts
* Destruktion, a term from the philosophy of Martin Heidegger
* Destructive narcissism, a pathological form of narcissism
* Self-destructive behaviour, a widely used phrase that ''conceptualises'' certain kind ...
and ''
Darkness Descends
''Darkness Descends'' is the second studio album by the American thrash metal band Dark Angel, released on November 17, 1986. Released at the height of thrash metal's popularity, ''Darkness Descends'' received positive reviews from music critics, ...
'' by
Dark Angel, all released in 1986.
The album played a considerable role in the development of many
extreme metal
Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...
subgenres, and
death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...
bands such as
Cannibal Corpse
Cannibal Corpse is an American death metal band formed in Buffalo, New York in 1988, now based out of Tampa, Florida. The band has released fifteen studio albums, two box sets, four video albums, and two live albums. The band has had little radi ...
cite the album as an influence.
The lyrical themes follow those found on their first album ''
Endless Pain
''Endless Pain'' is the debut studio album by German thrash metal band Kreator, released on 1 October, 1985 by Noise Records.
The album combines elements of black metal and thrash metal, ultimately creating a black-metal influenced thrash sound ...
'', containing descriptions of macabre scenes of death and horror. Just like that album, Kreator were a three-piece band during the recording of ''Pleasure to Kill''; on some early pressings, guitarist
Michael Wulf, who was briefly a member of Kreator, was erroneously credited as a band member in the liner notes.
Reception
In a contemporary review, Oliver Klemm of the German ''
Metal Hammer
''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...
'' called Kreator "the best
death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...
band in Europe after
Celtic Frost
Celtic Frost () was a Swiss extreme metal band from Zürich. They are known for their strong influence on the development of extreme metalBukszpan, Daniel. ''The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal''. Barnes & Noble Publishing, 2003. p.43 and avant-ga ...
" and described the album as obviously inspired by
Possessed
Possessed may refer to:
Possession
* Possession (disambiguation), having some degree of control over something else
** Spirit possession, whereby gods, demons, animas, or other disincarnate entities may temporarily take control of a human body
*** ...
's ''
Seven Churches'', but "even louder, even faster, even more brutal".
''
Rock Hard
"Rock Hard" is a single by the Beastie Boys, released by Def Jam Records on 12" in 1984. The track contains samples from the AC/DC song "Back in Black", which was used without obtaining legal permission, causing the record to be withdraw ...
'' reviewer found the album very similar to ''
Endless Pain
''Endless Pain'' is the debut studio album by German thrash metal band Kreator, released on 1 October, 1985 by Noise Records.
The album combines elements of black metal and thrash metal, ultimately creating a black-metal influenced thrash sound ...
'' and, despite the opaque drum sound, quite good by hardcore standards.
In a modern review,
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
writer Jason Anderson wrote that "many in the underground metal scene were already paying special attention to the German outfit's proto-death sound, but the cult status was shed after this critically and commercially successful second effort hit record-store shelves. As fierce and unyielding as the group's debut, ''Endless Pain'', was, ''Pleasure to Kill'' provides double the sonic carnage and superior material."
Canadian journalist
Martin Popoff
Martin Popoff (born April 28, 1963) is a Canadian music journalist, critic and author. He is mainly known for writing about the genre of heavy metal music. The senior editor and co-founder of ''Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles'', he has additionally ...
acknowledged the importance of the album in "propelling the band into the trinity of the genre next to Destruction and
Sodom", but was not very pleased by the "tech-thrash ugliness" of the music.
Commercial performance
Coinciding with the 2017 remastered issue, ''Pleasure to Kill'' charted for the first time 31 years after its release, and peaked at number 99 on the
German album charts
The GfK Entertainment charts are the official music charts in Germany and are gathered and published by GfK Entertainment (formerly Media Control and Media Control GfK International), a subsidiary of GfK, on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindust ...
. The remastered edition of the band's 1989 album ''
Extreme Aggression
''Extreme Aggression'' is the fourth studio album by German thrash metal band Kreator released in 1989. While the band had already gained a sizeable following in the US due to their 1988 tour with the crossover thrash band D.R.I., this album int ...
'' charted on the same day.
Accolades
''Pleasure to Kill'' was ranked at number four on ''
Loudwire
''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August of 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive ...
''s top ten list of "Thrash Albums NOT Released by the Big 4".
Legacy
*
Varg Vikernes
Louis Cachet (born Kristian Vikernes; 11 February 1973), better known as Varg Vikernes (), is a Norwegian writer and retired musician best known for his early black metal albums and later crimes. His first five records, issued under the name Bur ...
of
Burzum
Burzum (; ) was a Norwegian music project founded by Varg Vikernes in 1991. Although Burzum never played live performances, it became a part of the early Norwegian black metal scene and is considered one of the most influential acts in black m ...
was wearing a shirt of the album after the killing of
Øystein Aarseth
Øystein Aarseth (; 22 March 1968 – 10 August 1993), better known by his stage name Euronymous, was a Norwegian musician and a founder of and central figure in the early Norwegian black metal scene. He was a co-founder and guitarist of the N ...
because his clothes were bloody.
[A Burzum Story: Part II - Euronymous](_blank)
Retrieved 8 April 2010.
*In the German
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
series ''
Dark
Darkness, the direct opposite of lightness, is defined as a lack of illumination, an absence of visible light, or a surface that absorbs light, such as black or brown.
Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low lu ...
'', character Ulrich Nielsen is a fan of the band as a teenager, the lyric My only aim is to take many lives / The more, the better I feel''
' from "Pleasure to Kill" leading police officer Egon Tiedemann
to suspect he may be a Satanist.
Track listings
Personnel
;Kreator
*
Mille Petrozza
Miland "Mille" Petrozza (born 18 December 1967) is a German guitarist and singer of Italian descent. He is best known for being the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of thrash metal band Kreator, which he started playing in as Tyrant in 1982 and ...
– guitars, vocals (2, 4, 6, 7, 9)
* Rob Fioretti – bass
*
Ventor – drums, vocals (3, 5, 8)
;Production
*
Harris Johns
Harris Johns is a European music producer, active since the late-1970s in the heavy metal and punk scene, working for a lot of big-name bands, such as Helloween, Coroner, Tankard, Sodom, Voivod, Kreator, Exumer, Ratos de Porão, Slime, Daily ...
– producer, engineer
* Ralf Hubert – producer
* Maren Layout – design
* Fred Baumgart, Kreator – photography
* Phil Lawvere – cover artwork
* Mille Petrozza – remastering
* Karl-Ulrich Walterbach – executive producer
;2017 re-release
* Andy Pearce, Matt Wortham – mastering
* Thomas Ewerhard, Jan Meininghaus – art, design
*
Malcolm Dome
Malcolm Dome (1955 – 29 October 2021) was an English music journalist.
He wrote about rock and heavy metal from 1979. In addition to writing books, he was a journalist for ''Record Mirror'', ''Kerrang!'', ''Metal Hammer'' and ''Classic Rock ...
– sleeve notes
Charts
References
External links
Kreator Terrorzone: ''Pleasure to Kill''
{{Authority control
1986 albums
Kreator albums
Noise Records albums
Albums produced by Harris Johns