Artist: Kreator
Venue: B.B. King Blues Club - NYC
Opener: Vader
Date: 4-3-2005
Label: SPV Records
Live Pics: www.piercingmetal.com
Kicking off the first night of their US Tour was Germany's own Kreator and this would be a show to remember. The venue was a jam packed B.B. King Blues Club (or as I like to now refer to it as the place were every show seems to be happening these days). What was great to experience was the level of excitement for I felt out of all my most recent adventures out to the club that this show had a higher level than most. Kreator has not played in the States for awhile by my recollection and not only would this show mark off the US Tour but it was also in support of their latest release “Enemy Of God”. According to my label contacts this new CD had scanned in sales more than the last couple of records, so definitely these people were hungry for this band. I remember talking to one lovely head banger chick who told me that she first had driven almost two hours only to then take a train for the same amount of time just to be at this show. That was how deep her love of Kreator music was and I tend to admire this level of dedication. It is important to metal as a genre to still have this kind of effect on people especially when you are stuck with American Idol everywhere you turn. The band roster was Autumn Offering, Pro-Pain and Vader. Of the first up players I missed Autumn Offering entirely and only caught a couple of the Pro-Pain songs. They did sound nice and heavy and I do know they have been around for a while. An interesting site to observe that while the Kreator fans surely ruled in number there was also a large amount of support for Vader. These veteran kings of Death Metal from Poland did not seem to play any longer than 45 minutes but the audience definitely enjoyed themselves. Personally I am not a tremendous fan but I totally get into the vibe of the audience when it is affected in this manner. It makes it such a better time.

When the time came for Kreator you could literally feel the energy ebbing up to the stage from the crowd. Everyone was in fever pitch. The main man of the night Mille Petrozza was in total command of his legions and they slammed into a set of thrash like it was always meant to be played – brutal and without compromise. The set was long and Mille did not really do a whole lot of talking, if I missed anything it was because I was trying to get some decent pictures. Considering a lot of the floor area had become a giant mosh pit, you will hopefully appreciate the amount of jeopardy and risk I took to bring you the photos and report. I was not 100% certain on the set and checked against the Forums for the band to give you a better idea of the performance (please pardon omissions or minor errors). It was a very long set, and that is an added plus when you get a lot of tunes. So many times when you see a show with 4 or 5 bands you tend to lose some show time, with everyone rushing through brief sets. This is a great start for Kreators invasion of the States and I advise any traditional thrash metal fan to get to this show for it is exciting. The new songs and classic numbers mixed together well. Mille has made sure with the new release that no commercial changes were made.

As I left I caught my SPV Records rep and he inquired if I had actually gotten any pictures from down there. When I showed him I had, he was amazed that I was brave enough (or crazy enough) to get right in the mix to do it. Hey, this is Metal and that’s what it is all about.

Set List:
1. Enemy of God
2. Impossible Brutality
3. Pleasure to kill
4. Phobia
5. People of the Lie
6. Suicide Terrorist
7. World Anarchy
8. All of the same blood
9. Choir of the damned
10. Terrible Certainty
11. Reconquering the throne
12. Riot of Violence
13. Voices of the Dead
14. Violent Revolution
15. Flag of Hate – encore
16. Tormentor - encore

Official Web site: http://www.kreator-terrorzone.de