Review by Elijah on April 28, 2020.

The 1990's, a terrifying era for thrash metal because most of the bands converted to a rock/alternative sound or filler thrash. Sure, Renewal may fall victim to not being pure thrash, but it's definitely not a bad album, not at all.

My absolute favorite part of this album are the drums. They sound absolutely amazing, the snare is solid, tight, poppy, and it fills in every beat and measure greatly. You can't ever go wrong with a solid and amazing snare, absolutely beautiful. The guitars do have a thrashy sound, but rather than being used to create pure thrash riffs and songs, it's designed to have a more laid back and restricted feel and focuses more on the pure sound rather than ability. I suppose you could call this "industrial thrash metal", this is Kreator's first experimental album, and thankfully it's not bad.

When thrash bands try out new things in the 1990's it's usually a shitshow, but gladly Renewal isn't. It's far from a shitshow actually, this is truly a beautiful album and it's really overlooked and mislabeled as a "flawed 90's 'thrash' album". The songs display a huge array of emotion, and it really does speak to me. Whenever I'm in a sad mood, or a chilled-out mood, or even when it's raining outside and it's fucking peaceful and relaxing, this album is perfect for any of those scenarios, especially the rain. Match made in heaven. The simplistic riffs do their own thing throughout the songs and the album, and the more you listen the more you'll appreciate it all. I'd say to fully appreciate and see the true beauty of this album, you have to be in the right setting or a certain state of mind. Like rain, a perfect example. It's just an album that absolutely FITS with an atmosphere like that. It's simply gorgeous, can't really form it into words.

The standout tracks are for sure 'Winter Martyrium', 'Renewal', 'Reflection', and 'Brainseed'. Pretty much the first few songs are the best standout ones, even though every track is realistically. 'Winter Martyrium' is a pretty flexible song, it has several different sections and it's pretty cool. It gives me happy and positive upbeat vibes and I love the drum patterns on it. 'Renewal' is where it starts to get more emotional and where the beauty starts to stand out. The start of the song has a few hallowed strums of guitar with drums that follow, the beginning of that song makes me think of a setting where you're in a city, or a big deserted area, and it's raining and you're all alone. It just makes my head expand and think about the settings each song depicts. The main riff of the song is catchy and pleasing to the ear. 'Reflection' sounds like you're walking in the middle of a small blizzard/snowstorm, you're going against the tough weather while the harsh snow is being blown everywhere all around you, a lengthy challenge, but it'll be all worth it at the end point. 'Brainseed' is a pretty in-itself track, the main aspect of the song is a metallic-sounding smack/hit that's basically a beat that repeats itself over and over. It's simply catchy and it's the main hook of the song. These 4 tracks are the greatest parts and are the backbone of the album that start it off properly and in a good direction.

There may be best tracks that stand out the most compared to others, but pretty much every track has all the elements that I previously described. Every song matter, every song is cool. Nothing really fails here, the band manages to properly maintain an ongoing formula.

The tone of the guitar followed by the song structures and patterns in every song creates a little story or experience I should say. I just think this is entertaining and catchy, I like listening to the whole album and going on a cool adventure and waiting for all my favorite parts, it's an intriguing experience that's super fun and makes me feel an array of emotions. Especially when you're in the right setting, it'll HIT THE SPOT.

Renewal isn't all that bad, it's an album you have to get used to and spend time with to understand it. Is it absolutely perfect? No. Is it terrible? Not in the slightest. Every track has a personality, some may be a little lazy, but at some point in any of the songs it'll have something interesting, and that's fine. Kreator wanted to try something different, and it's not bad. Experimental doesn't ALWAYS mean bad, this is a prime example. Renewal is an acquired taste that's appreciated only by a certain amount. I love this album and I always will, definitely one of my top favorites by Kreator. 

Rating: 9.5 out of 10                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Review by Felix on May 3, 2020.

Kreator have made a lot of dubious decisions during their career. Or was it just Mille? It doesn’t matter… I know, the objective situation speaks another language, but this is my review and here I am the dictator who has the final say. I mean just think of Endorama, think of the day they took Ventor's mic away or of the crude justification why they did not give 'Wolf Child' a place on Phantom Antichrist (“it did not fit the context of the album” – thank God, an honorable reason. How could I be so naïve to think they just wanted to make some extra bucks with the Civilization Collapse EP?). Nevertheless, I admit the band has reached a very professional level of musicality, for better or for worse. From this it follows that the dudes are able to pen and perform smooth and partly catchy songs without killing their vehemence completely. Phantom Antichrist documents this. It is no bad album, but it rather scores with non-typical elements for a thrash album. However, it is still thrash and not that overly polished, pretty meaningless kind of material they presented on their stinker from the year 2017.

Unfortunately, the band has totally lost its once uncontrolled aggression. I know, no new finding, but again and again, it’s sad to experience it. No, I am not still waiting for “Endless Pain Part II”, but a few elements of insane brutality would have been fine. The formation stays within a frame of calculated violence. It’s not an overly narrow one, but it seems as if they have taken fright at their own courage. Sometimes calm sequences stop the rise of intensity and that’s a pity. Solid riffs and a basic heaviness do not deserve this kind of variety and it feels good to listen to a more or less real neck breaker like 'Civilization Collapse'. Thank God, this song fits the context of the album and my worst fears did not come true!

Moreover, the tribal drumming that opens this song also sounds the bell for the best part of the album.'United in Hate' has, despite its nonsensical title, enough fire to burn all barricades that stand in its way. The truly swift drumming drives the verses forward and the voluminous chorus delivers catchiness minus cheesy elements. A good tune; it shows that the band is still ambitious without always falling victim to pretty commercial patterns. 'From Flood to Fire' represents the other side of the band’s ambitions – a comparatively commercial track that wants to be moving, yet it sounds rather lachrymose. Yet I wanted to describe the best segment of the album. 'The Few, the Proud, the Broken' finishes this part, it offers inter alia a very strong instrumental part where the guitars mix straightness and power. Once again catchy parts show up, the main riff leads the listener to the core of the song and even Mille’s wannabe-evil voice does not hurt the coherent overall picture. No doubt, this piece boasts with a very good balance between aggression and melody.

Needless to say that the sound is flawless for “overground thrash”. It’s not too dry and not too juicy. In its best moments, Phantom Antichrist delivers a fine slap in the face of the listener due to its clearly defined, vigorous sound. On the other hand, tracks like 'Your Heaven, My Hell' do not detonate. The pretty unmotivated chorus is going nowhere, and both the silent beginning and the more powerful verses do not provide anything new. Generally speaking, the last three songs of the album do not impress with an overdose of tension, even though 'Victory Will Come' has some mighty (yet very typical) sequences. Anyway, Phantom Antichrist can give you the impulse to bang your head and have a - partly - good time. The eighties are gone and even I-don’t-listen-to-metal-when-I’m-at-home dudes like Mille have the right to development. By the way, this private banishment of metal is another one of his dubious (or simply wrong) decisions.

Rating: 7.3 out of 10

Review by Death8699 on February 4, 2019.

Definitely a step up from their previous release entitled Hordes of Chaos, this release is heavier and way more aggressive thrash metal played with utmost intensity. I'd say it's about as good as Enemy of God, but nothing tops Coma of Souls. However, these guys flourished during the 80's (1985) and then went to hell during the 90's, then came back with vengeance with Violent Revolution. Here the lead guitar work is much more well played out plus of course rhythms that are definitely original with a combination of tremolo picked riffing plus some fretboard chaos. A solid production definitely with an even keel of mixed tempos, but overall plainly original.

45+ minutes of brutality and mixture of thrash with some clean guitar playing. However, most songs are heavy and filled with monumental distortion and utmost speed. The riffs themselves are wholly well constructed. Mille's vocals have never changed and they fit well with the guitar and intensity. This album is just so much more enthusiastic with riff-writing frenzied guitar featuring amazingly fast frets played with vigor. A great one to pick up and a Kreator release that can't be outplayed. I really think that this is a monument because it's so aggressive and catchy.

Some clean tone guitar exhibited here, however, mostly what is gripping are the distorted riffs. A lot of it reflects the past with all of the aggression and utmost originality. I dug most of the guitar on here because it's played with precision. These guys don't fool around when it comes to belting out fury in their music within the genre of thrash metal. This is definitely what they play their best. The leads are definitely much better than on Hordes of Chaos. They don't overdo it with them either. The bulk is within the rhythm guitar work. Much better played than their predecessor.

The music is the highlight of this release. It contains all elements of metal and they mix up some songs with a bit of clean tone guitar. Not the whole album is wholly aggressive, just most of it. Mille sounds extremely pissed off here which fits well with the distorted guitar work. A lot of their lyrical topics have been exceptionally interesting to me, just the music and the vocals. The recording quality here is phenomenal. Everything is well mixed in there. The quality here is exceptional and everything flows diligently. The bass guitar could have been a bit louder and that's my only complaint.

If you want an album that is fast and furious, thrash metal galore, and just overall a plain original sounding and awesomely well played out, Phantom Antichrist hits home with vigor. You'll find everything here so balanced out. The lead guitar, rhythms, clean tone melodies, great chorus pieces, and mastermind production sound, this album is for you. I didn't think too highly of it until I listened to it maybe 4-5 times. Then everything to me seemed to fit into place. Again, nothing tops Coma of Souls, but this band really makes a dent in their discography meaning that it's an album that hits home in all aspects.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10