Enemy of God

by Ed Rivadavia

"Never underestimate the heart of a champion" may as well have been the unspoken moral behind Kreator's astounding return to form via 2001's Violent Revolution, following over a decade of "wilderness study" in non-thrash terrain. As well as revitalizing the band's career the album clearly helped main man Mille Petrozza make peace with his past, and set the stage for his band's wisely retro-minded direction going forward into the new millennium. Cue 2005's Enemy of God: not only Kreator's next shot at revitalizing old-school thrash metal for modern generations, but a necessary building block to sustaining their unexpected renaissance. And as the pummeling opening title track's timeless thrashing proceeds to detonate everything in sight, indeed all appears to be well and good in the Kreator camp's future. Of course, no matter how forceful and successful this initial assault, the inevitable irony of Kreator's decision to stay the course on Enemy of God is that it invariably doesn't sound quite as fresh as its direct predecessor. But in terms of those other, all-important attributes: intensity of attack and quality songwriting -- the results are almost identically inspired, more often than not. Simply witness the blinding solos and masterful twin harmonies that pepper instant neo-thrash classics "World Anarchy" and "When Death Takes Its Dominion" for proof that this is Kreator at their tightest, devastating best. Not to be outdone, additional speed-fests such as "Impossible Brutality" and "Suicide Terrorist" basically speak for themselves, and even the more sedate acoustic guitar twangs introducing "Voices of the Dead," "Dying Race Apocalypse," and "The Ancient Plague" offer but small relief from the album's decapitating onslaught. And, all things considered, it's a testament to Petrozza and company's creative acumen that such savagery never descends into repetitive overkill. In short, although Kreator remain staunch Enem[ies] of God, it's nice to see they are still faithful friends to thrash metal fans everywhere.