Review by Felix on September 16, 2019.

Strange story. The title of the opener is "O Satan, O Lucifer", but the CD display in my car shows "O Darkness, O Lucifer". Is this a Christian conspiracy against Malum or, even worse, against me? Well, I think I have nothing to fear as long as I pay the church tax while listening to black metal permanently. It's always good to have a connection to both sides as long as we do not know whether good or evil will win. And as a convinced opportunist, I will not say which side is good and which one is evil, haha.

Malum's full-length from 2017 offers generic black metal, not overly spectacular or totally radical. One can say we have heard this mid-harsh approach a thousand times before or one can say black metal supporters never can get enough of this style. Both statements are right. The musicians behind the name Malum do not form the revolutionary cell of the Suomi's black society. Instead, they are competent ambassadors of the style their country is well known for. This includes a pretty undifferentiated yet appropriate production. Night of the Luciferian Light has a comparatively dull sound, that's true, but only listeners who are not familiar with the genre will be seriously concerned about this.

Well, no orgy takes place in the night of the Luciferian light. "Perdition" marks a stormy outburst of hate and catapults the band into the territory where Azaghal are always in search of the next thing they can destroy. This kind of sonorous background noise is always welcome. However, even this song houses a relatively long mid-tempo part with hymnal elements. No doubt, mid-paced sections give this album a face. It goes without saying that the typical, raw vocals and the occasionally thundering double bass prevent a lukewarm appearance. Nevertheless, this record is rather for friends of Barathrum's "Occult" than for those who went crazy while inhaling Behexen's masterpiece "By the Blessing of Satan". And honestly speaking, sometimes I wish they would accelerate the tempo and the degree of malignancy. "Altar of Ritual Death", for example, would have profited from more aggressive up-tempo sections. On the other hand, the album is free from strange sound collages, useless intermezzos or further nonsense.

The title track closes an album. The final song bundles the different facets of this work. It presents a mix of rather melancholic parts and furious, dynamic sequences. Black metal lives from its intensity and that's the reason why I prefer the more brutal sections. Too many meditative riffs can hurt the true spirit... and the same goes for a conspirative or just shitty display of a CD player. Thank God, I drive a company car and I get a new one next month. Either it shows the right title of the opener or I will never again listen to the album while driving down the German autobahn.

Rating: 7.2 out of 10

Review by Felix on May 22, 2019.

Kreator once released pure brutality. Later on, they were not afraid of some more or less courageous experiments. Today they are neither overly brutal nor experimental. Their compositions ooze out maturity and experience from every pore. This is regrettable. Furthermore, they have lost their autonomy. Somebody has told them that every song must have a catchy chorus; "Satan Is Real" follows this order. Another guy pointed out that even the most furious song needs a melodic part; "World War Now", actually a strong and vehement piece, suffers exactly from its lame part. Give your German fans a candy, a third know-it-all said; lo and behold, "Fallen Brothers" holds some German lines (the next Wacken Open Air comes for sure). Forgive me that I am not willing to list further examples.

Well, all these details are annoying, but the most irritating fact is that pretty harmless harmonies destroy the power of songs such as "Totalitarian Terror". Its melodic bridge is terrible. Thrash was meant to be an explosion of energy, not a kind of stop-and-go system. Yet Kreator offer a pretty polished form of mainstream metal with acoustic intros, emotional intermezzos and well-dosed parts that give the guys with a less radical music taste a reason to lend an ear to the album. Clever strategy, but not very authentic. It seems as if the business has taken control over a once independent band. I am definitely not the one who is seeing through the hype, but Kreator's tactical move is more or less obvious. Okay, Mille's slightly grim voice has never been outstanding and it also does not dominate the new songs. Instead, the mid-harsh thrashers try to combine relatively straight and fast parts with rather hymnal or less dangerous sections while the guitar work defines the compositions. The guys are good songwriters and they have a knack for effective designs, nevertheless, the majority of the songs sound somewhat cheap. Nobody expected a new Flag of Hate, but did they have to do it in such a predictable way?

Talking of predictability, it goes without saying that the production is perfect or what Nuclear Blast considers as perfect. Gods of Violence, the top candidate for the most vapid album title of the 21st century, sounds voluminous, clean and soulless. Every technician with dirt under the finger nails did not have access to the recording sessions. This is not "Thrash, Altenessen", but "Thrash, Düsseldorf" and you must know that Düsseldorf is a pretty chic city in Germany, not far away from Kreator's home base. A certain amount of good ideas cannot be ignored, but they are not able to shape fantastic songs, probably because Kreator, a flagship of its company, are confronted with social constraints that do not allow a really sharp and spicy thrash album. Good riffs are not missing, but they have to fight with all these lackluster details that the band has integrated as well. So, if your heart beats for slightly synthetic thrash of guys who are intelligent enough to avoid compositional hits below the belt, Gods of Violence is your album. If you do not like Maiden-esque "Thrash" whose commercial intention cannot be ignored, you better keep your fingers away.

Rating: 5.5 out of 10

Review by Adam M on April 28, 2017.

Kreator employs a thrash attack of vast proportions on Gods of Violence.  What is neat about this recording is that it balances aggression and melody nicely.  There is the harsh aspect that brings to mind the teutonic thrash genre.  But then there is also a melodic aspect that brings to mind the best in the melodic death metal genre. 

As such, I believe the band has evolved nicely and is keen on making their new album as powerful as possible.  The songs often alternate between the harsher segments and moments of harmonious bliss.  The album is thus nicely balanced.  Make no mistake, however, when the album wants to shred it is perfectly capable of doing so.  The first real song on the disc World War Now blasts out of the gates for example and brings a vicious attack presence to the disc.  There are a large number of moments that bring the aggression in a similar fashion.  The nice aspect of this disc is its injection of melody to other portions.  It makes for an album that has more depth than a typical thrash release.  It also elevates this disc to the top of the heap for the 2017 thrash releases thus far.  The musical performances are all solid.  Nice guitar riffing complements the solid drumming performance.  The vocals are rough, but fit the jagged edges of the guitar riffs nicely.  The problem with the disc lies in the fact that it really provides nothing new.  The music has been traversed in both the thrash and melodic death metal genres and it is very similar to albums already present there. 

Other than this minor issue, Gods of Violence really is a rousing affair.  Thrash fans need take notice and pick up this album at all costs. 

Rating: 7.9 out of 10