Kreator ‘London Apocalypticon – Live at the Roundhouse’
Album Review By Adam McCann
Nuclear Blast Records/Thrash Metal
When it comes to Kreator, not much needs to be said, this is a band which are not only influential in the thrash, death and black metal worlds, but albums such as ‘Extreme Aggression’, ‘Coma of Souls’ and ‘Pleasure to Kill’ stand tall as some of not just Kreator’s best work, but are definitive albums in the heavy metal pantheon. More recently, Kreator have had a habit of releasing a live album to coincide with the conclusion of a tour, something to tide the fans over whilst the German titans work on their next album and that is exactly the case with the latest Kreator release ‘London Apocalypticon – Live at the Roundhouse’.
Although this is a brand new live album, the question is begged: “does the world need another Kreator live album?”, unlike the previous live album ‘Live Antichrist’, which chooses the best performances from tour to present, ‘London Apocalypticon…’ is comparable to ‘Dying Alive’ and the double ‘Terror Prevails’ which focus on just one particular concert. This means that the listener gets the full fury of what it means to see Kreator live; not just a relentless onslaught of thrash metal, but a warts n’ all performance. Tracks here are a raging inferno of hate as new songs such as ‘Satan Is Real’ and ‘Gods of Violence’ stand tall against well tested classics like ‘Awakening of the Gods’, ‘People of the Lie’ and ‘Phobia’. However, as with all warts n’ all performances, Mille Petrozza’s voice does seem to run out of steam towards the end and whilst not struggling with things like ‘Violent Revolution’, it certainly has the wind taken out of it. Yet, this is the nature of the live beast and for a man in his 50’s, his performance is commendable at this tempo and fury.
Yet, is this album going to appeal to the passing fan of Kreator? The answer is probably not, it is an excellent live performance and worthy of a listen, but when it comes to purchasing this album; it is probably best reserved for hardcore Kreator fans.
Rating : 80/100
MHF Magazine/Adam McCann
