''Gods of Violence'' is the fourteenth 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 Frédé ...

, released on 27 January 2017. This is Kreator's final studio album with bassist Christian "Speesy" Giesler before his departure from the band in 2019.

Background

It was the band's first studio album in almost five years since 2012's ''

Phantom Antichrist ''Phantom Antichrist'' is the 13th studio album by German thrash metal band Kreator, released through Nuclear Blast on 1 June 2012. The album entered the US ''Billboard'' 200 at No. 130, selling 3,900 copies in the first week. Release and pr ...

'', marking the longest gap between two studio albums, until ''

Hate Über Alles ''Hate Über Alles'' is the fifteenth studio album by German thrash metal band Kreator, which was released on 10 June 2022 through Nuclear Blast. Produced by Arthur Rizk, it is the band's first studio album since '' Gods of Violence'' (2017), th ...

'' broke this record in 2022. A music video for the album's title track was released on 18 November 2016. Special editions of the album were released with a bonus Blu-ray/DVD of Kreator's performance at Wacken 2014.

Reception

''Gods of Violence'' received positive reviews upon its release. Writing for ''All About the Rock'', Fraser Wilson said: "With this record, Kreator have created a slab of truly eviscerating aural perfection. Thrash may have been born in San Francisco's Bay Area, but it was perfected in

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Do ...

." ''Gods of Violence'' debuted at number one on the

German 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 ...

, making it Kreator's first number one debut in their 32-year recording career. The album won a 2017

Metal Storm Metal Storm Limited was a research and development company based in Brisbane, Australia, that specialized in electronically initiated superposed load weapons technology and owned the proprietary rights to the electronic ballistics technology ...

Award for Best Thrash Metal Album.

Track listing

Credits

Writing, performance and production credits are adapted from the album liner notes. ;Kreator * Mille Petrozza – vocals, rhythm guitar * Sami Yli-Sirniö – lead guitar *

Christian Giesler Christian "Speesy" Giesler (born 4 July 1970) is a German musician. He is best known for being the former bassist of Kreator, where he was a member of the band from 1994 to 2019. He appeared on eight studio albums with Kreator, from '' Cause for ...

– bass * Ventor – drums ;Additional musicians * Boris Pfeiffer (

In Extremo In Extremo (Latin for ''At the Edge''; abbreviated InEx or IE) is a German Medieval metal band originating from Berlin. The band's musical style combines metal with Medieval traditional songs, blending the sound of the standard rock/metal inst ...

) –

bagpipes Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, ...

on "Hails to the Hordes" * Tekla-Li Wadensten –

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orc ...

; intro piece on "Gods of Violence" * Dagobert Jäger – German vocals on "Fallen Brother" ;Choir * Ronny Milianowicz * Björn Kromm * Frederik Eriksson * Henrik Andersoon * Mattias Lövdahl * Lars Höjer * Jens Bogren ;Arrangements * Kreator –

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orche ...

* Francesco Paoli – orchestral arrangement * Francesco Ferrini – orchestral arrangement ;Production * Jens Bogren – production, recording, mixing * David Castillo – additional

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

* Erik Mjörnell – additional engineering * Christoffer Wadensten – engineering (harp only) * Ronny Milianowicz – recording (choir only) * Ludwig Näsvall – drumtech * Urban Näsvall – drumtech * Linus Corneliusson – mixing assistance,

editing Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, or ...

* Tony Lindgren – mastering * Olman Viper – mastering * Marc Görtz (

Caliban Caliban ( ), son of the witch Sycorax, is an important character in William Shakespeare's play '' The Tempest''. His character is one of the few Shakespearean figures to take on a life of its own "outside" Shakespeare's own work: as Russell H ...

) –

pre-production Pre-production is the process of planning some of the elements involved in a film, television show, play, or other performance, as distinct from production and post-production. Pre-production ends when the planning ends and the content start ...

* Dominic Paraskevopoulos – Pre-production ;Studios * Fascination Street Studios, Sweden – production, recording, mixing, mastering * Studio Seven,

Örebro Örebro ( , ) is the sixth-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Örebro Municipality, and capital of the Örebro County. It is situated by the Närke Plain, near the lake Hjälmaren, a few kilometers inland along the small river Svartån, and ...

, Sweden – recording (choir only) * Nemesis Studios, Germany – pre-production * Level 3 – pre-production * Hertzwerk,

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

, Germany – mastering

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2017 albums Kreator albums Nuclear Blast albums Albums produced by Jens Bogren