Kreator
What is there to
be said about Kreator, one of the best thrash metal bands out there? They
are simply one of those few pioneering groups that have managed to create
a unique sound and have a core of die hard followers. So we couldn't lose
the chance of asking the band's masrtermind, Mille Petrozza, a few questions
about the band's past, present and future, when he visited Greece for some
live shows. Here's what we got out of it...
1. KREATOR IS A BAND THAT EXISTS SINCE 1984,
SO YOU’VE BEEN THROUGH LITERALLY ALL PHASES OF HEAVY METAL MUSIC. WHAT
CHANGES HAVE YOU SEEN? IN WHICH WAYS WERE THE 80S BETTER AND WHAT DO YOU
LIKE THE MOST IN THE RECENT METAL SCENE?
To me the changes in the metal scene… hmm…
You got to look at it this way… The metal community is only the reflection
of life in general and society in general. So the changes that I’ve seen
in the metal scene, have also been changes that I’ve seen in society, so
I’ve seen people come and go, I’ve seen bands come and go, I’ve seen people
die, I’ve seen people get a big head, people who couldn’t deal with success
so to speak. I’ve also seen trends come and go and I’m sure I’m gonna see
a lot of things come and go in the future. Hahaha!
2. ON THE SAME GROUND I’D ALSO LIKE TO KNOW WHICH
YOU CONSIDER AS THE BEST AND MOST IMPORTANT MOMENTS OF THE BAND’S CAREER
AND WHICH THE WORST.
Oooh that’s hard to say! It’s hard for me
to answer that because I think life itself is so full of changes and it’s
about experiences… There is no such thing as a life that is always free
of tragedy or bad talks. So, I think for Kreator’s career whatsoever there’s
been good times, better times and like you said worst times, but the thing
is that we survived and I think it’s a journey. Life’s a journey full of
up and down, waves that come and go…
3. HOW DO YOU FEEL NOW THAT THRASH METAL IS MAINLY
MIXED WITH OTHER GENRES, HARDCORE AND NU METAL FOR EXAMPLE? THERE ARE VERY
FEW BANDS THAT PLAY PURE THRASH NOWADAYS. WHY? WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT
IT?
Um... I like some of the stuff that comes
out. I like some of the metalcore bands. They are not bad, but Kreator
is a traditional thrash metal band. We’ve had some influence on some hardcore
bands, we’ve helped some bands and we’ve toured with many hardcore groups
so for us it’s normal to mix metal with hardcore.
-WELL ACTUALLY THRASH METAL IS A MIXTURE OF METAL
WITH PUNK.
Yes exactly! Thrash metal has indeed started
as a mixture of metal with punk. So I know what you are talking about though…
There are so many bands playing this kind of music out there and mixing
sounds…
-NOWADAYS AT LEAST HALF OF THE PROMOS COME FROM
HARDCORE OR METALCORE BANDS…
Yeah, yeah! It’s like I said earlier. Waves
that come and go… It’s like a new genre, a new trend and it’s going to
disappear sooner or later. You have to filter it and two years from now
when we will be speaking again it’s going to be 5 of these bands that they
will still be out there.
4. LET’S SUPPOSE THAT YOU WERE ASKED TO WRITE
A COUPLE OF LINES IN ORDER TO DESCRIBE BOTH THE “ENEMY OF GOD” CD AND THE
DVD. WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TRYING TO BE AS OBJECTIVE AS POSSIBLE?
I don’t write reviews, but I think both releases
are different from each other and if you have the album and you don’t want
the DVD that’s fine, but if you have the album you want some extra stuff…
5. BY THE WAY WHY DID YOU RELEASE 2 DVDS IN A
PERIOD OF 3 YEARS? WHAT’S DIFFERENT IN THOSE TWO?
Oh you’ are talking about the “Live Kreation”.
That’s a whole different thing. It was a tour around the world whereas
the “Enemy Of God Revisited” is only one show, which was one of the best
shows we’ve played on our last tour shot. And the next DVD will be something
different as well…
-SO, THERE WILL BE ANOTHER DVD?
Yes, but it’s going to be released after the
next album.
6. WHAT’S ACCORDING TO YOU THE BEST AND WHAT’S
THE WORST PART OF YOUR MUSIC? WHICH DO YOU THINK ARE THE ELEMENTS THAT
MAKE KREATOR SUCH A BIG AND INFLUENTIAL NAME IN THRASH METAL?
It’s nothing! It’s because we believe in what
we do and we enjoy the music! To me that’s the most important thing and
it’s irrelevant what kind of metal you play or what kind of genre you’re
in. It’s just the music!
-AND WHAT’S THE BEST PART OF KREATOR ACCORDING
TO YOU?
We’re pretty unique. We have our own style!
-AND WHAT ABOUT THE WORST PART?
I can’t answer that! (Laughter!)
7. IN WHICH FIELDS HAS YOUR SOUND EVOLVED THROUGHOUT
ALL THESE YEARS?
I think it’s mainly maturity and more of being
able to play things we hadn’t been able to perform some years ago. So I
think we matured and we progressed in a very natural way. You know the
core of Kreator’s been the same since the beginning. It’s still me and
Ventor so it’s a fact that the band has progressed very naturally and smoothly.
8. TWO YEARS HAVE PASSED SINCE THE RELEASE OF
“ENEMY OF GOD”, SO ARE KREATOR BUSY PREPARING THEIR NEW ALBUM?
-WHEN SHOULD WE EXPECT IT AND IS THERE ANYTHING
YOU CAN REVEAL TO US?
Not yet! I’m still working on the songs and
it’s gonna be a little bit more complicated this time because I have a
lyrical concept.
-AND YOU CAN’T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THE CONCEPT?
Well, yeah I can say something about the concept,
but it’s going to be very abstract. It’s going to be like a fictional reality,
like a fictional state, like a system – government that oppresses people…
-IT SOUNDS PERFECTLY NORMAL AND ORDINARY TO ME…
Yeah exactly! Hahaha! But the thing is that
our lyrics will be very aggressive that no one’s going to get offended.
I have this fantasy society, but I know that no one’s going to get offended
cause the lyrics I write are going to be very, very radical… and I don’t
want people to think “Oh he is anti- this and anti- that”, cause I’m not.
I just want to say things how they are!
9. YOUR LYRICS DEAL WITH WAR, VIOLENCE, RELIGION
AND POLITICS MAINLY. WHY? WHAT IS IT YOU FIND SO APPEALING IN THESE MATTERS?
I think it’s harder… If you read about war
and the history of mankind in general you don’t need horror movies. You
don’t need any fiction, cause real life is a lot bloodier and happier and
everything than any story you can come up with. So reading about let’s
say the war in Iraq that still goes on and it’s nowadays in 2007, I mean
it’s the worst thing that can happen. These things are never going to change.
As long as there are people, there’s going to be wars.
-AND WHY DO YOU THINK PEOPLE NEVER LEARN FROM
THEIR MISTAKES?
Cause they are fool… You know and I know,
but it’s human nature. I think it’s mainly because of ignorance, racism
mainly… Like for example this race is better than the rest, so these are
bad people so I can treat them like shit. It’s basically that and it’s
always going to be like that. In the human mind these are just particles
of the human nature…
-IT’S ALL ABOUT POWER AND MONEY.
10. YOU COME TO GREECE QUITE OFTEN. WHAT IS IT
YOU LIKE SO MUCH HERE? WHAT SHOULD THE FANS IN GREECE EXPECT TO EXPERIENCE
FROM KREATOR?
You know Greek fans are so great, radical
and violent! This is what I like!
-SO HOW COME YOU HAVEN’T FILMED US FOR A DVD OR
RECORDED US FOR A LIVE CD?
We will, we will! Don’t worry! We’ve been
planning that for years, but it’s just a technical thing.
11. YOU ONCE SAID, AFTER WATCHING IRON MAIDEN
LIVE, THAT THEIR MUSIC IS MANY YEARS AHEAD OF THEIR TIME. WHICH ARE THOSE
BANDS YOU CONSIDER PLAY PIONEERING MUSIC NOWADAYS?
Hmm… I don’t know. It’s really hard to define
a pioneer band, because the history of rock music and music in general
is so long that it’s very difficult to be a pioneer now.
-MANY ARE THOSE WHO KEEP TELLING THAT EVERYTHING
HAS ALREADY BEEN PLAYED…
Exactly! Take Iron Maiden for example, who
are a great and pioneer band and I love them, but they’ve been influenced
by U.F.O., Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and some other bands we may not
even know. So this is the beauty of music, that there are new things added
and it’s never ending.
12. YOUR MUSIC IS REALLY AGGRESSIVE AND VIOLENT,
SO I’M CURIOUS TO FIND OUT IN WHAT MOOD YOU USUALLY ARE WHEN WRITING SONGS.
WHICH ARE THOSE INGREDIENTS THAT MAKE YOUR MUSIC SO EXTREME?
It’s just thinking about how fucked up things
really are can be a strong inspiration. But it’s not that easy… it’s actually
a process. I will never write some stuff like everything sucks, the governments
suck, because that’s not enough and too easy… The key is to take your time
and focus your violence and put it in the right direction. To me violent
emotions are something negative. Anger and frustration are negative energies,
so I like to form them into something positive. If you are a hyper-active
person for example you should maybe do extreme sports or something. It’s
the same kinda thing. If you are a person that’s angry and tends to destroy
things, then start a band! (Laughter!)
13. WHAT EMOTIONS AND IDEAS DO YOU THINK YOUR
MUSIC CREATES TO YOUR LISTENERS?
Hopefully it should be different for each
individual, because… basically I don’t know but I hope that we can share
some thoughts with our listeners. We are not trying to preach. We have
fans that have been following us since our early years and fans that
have been with us for a few years, but there is a core of fans that is
really dedicated and to us it’s a gift! We are all older and we all have
more experiences and we share these experiences and we celebrate in our
lives… To me this is what this band is all about…
-INTERACT…
Interact. Be a part of it. We feel we are
a part of the metal scene instead of feeling we are on top of it. We started
like metal fans who liked to play metal music and I think we still have
that energy!
14. WHAT TITLE DO YOU THINK CAN WRAP UP EVERYTHING
KREATOR STAND FOR ALL THESE YEARS?
Extreme aggression!!! Surely! (Laughter)
15. THANK YOU! IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE
TO MENTION? LEAVE A MESSAGE TO YOUR FANS…
Thanks for the interview and I’d just like
to say that Greek fans rule!!! Thanks for the support!
Dimitris Pantsiopoulos
Special Help: Christine Parastatidou
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