Review by Arek on January 8, 2017.

Founded in 2012, Crator consists of four Americans, which rather don’t need to be introduced in the metal community. Each of them possesses many musical episodes (Origin, Gorguts, Angelcorpse, Skinless...) in their dossier. The Ones Who Create: The Ones Who Destroy is their debut album, but it's the debut with a capital D! The production and release of the album have been done by the band themselves, and so let's roll...

In this modestly humble digipak they’ve packed 9 pieces of sharp, technical death metal brazenly cutting hearing organs for a little less than 39 minutes. Not enough? It is more than plenty, believe you me! Thanks to the yearning that emerges after the first listening of this album, one is eager to return to such records; and each subsequent hearing of it saturates new senses. Death metal wall of sound built by the Americans was not filled with blood-red-brick only. There's a lot of black in it, and it penetrates guitars and sometimes vocals of Jason Keyser. I will not go into raptures on the musical skills of individual musicians, because words are superfluous here. Each instrument is clearly audible, which Colin Marston himself took care of, and the first listen in will certify it promptly.

Moreover, it is not the technical skills that determine the grandeur of the album. The idea is most important, but ability can facilitate or hinder its creation. There was an idea on The Ones Who ..., and technology did not interfere with the creators, therefore listening to percussion barrages, bass orgies and guitar madness is pure pleasure. Vocals are also multicolored, from black metal screams, through growling, to the grind roars. The album is dominated by a pace that’s fast and very fast, but that does not mean that we won’t find anything slow. With the pieces such as the title - 'The Ones Who Create, The Ones...' and 'The Echo Voice That Conquers' the album is complete. Just don’t expect death metal rolls or melodic skips. You will not find those here. Each breakdown is preceded and finished by serious thumping, and the best way to find the melody is to keep listening.

I wish there was more such debuts, but not literally, because who needs copies of Crator. Death metal served by this quartet is certainly not easy to take, but once you break certain barriers, savoring of it may never end. Remembering a review of Krakow Dormant Ordeal I see some similarities, but the material created by Crator has a tad more benefits. Is death metal dead as its name suggests??? Crator and I firmly say NO! to such blasphemous gossip.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Review by Emma on June 7, 2009.

The revival of Thrash: love it, loath it, its happening and Minotaur is riding the wave. It’s been 11 years since this cult German Thrash outfit has produced a full-length album, with several splits and EPs thrown in between.

"God May Show You Mercy…We Will Not" is the second full-length in Minotaur’s history, and has proven itself an overall solid album with few complaints. The production for this release could be better, but then again it adds more grit to their sound, something I personally enjoy here. The vocals are way mixed out though and are something I’m on the fence about. More on the edge of Black Metal, Richwien’s scratching vocals are a large factor in defining the Minotaur sound. They aren’t exactly favorable for my taste, yet it would be a sad thing to have them any other way. Again, on the fence. Moving on, the riffs are catchy, the song structures solid, and the drumming up to par, ‘Princess Of Hell’ is a track I found myself returning to most. Minotaur’s songs will invoke head-banging action, though you won’t find anything new or outstanding so far as writing is concerned. At least they haven’t remolded themselves based on today’s trends, a sad decision many bands decide to make. "God May Show You Mercy…" is wrapped up with cover of W.A.S.P.’s ‘Animal (Fuck Like A Beast)’, which translated well.

Minotaur’s latest is entertaining for anyone who appreciates an uncompromising classic Thrash sound, as long as expectations for originality stay low.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship-7
Atmosphere-8
Production-6
Originality-3
Overall-7

Rating: 6.5 out of 10