Kreator: Phantom Antichrist

German thrash metal titans have done it again with their thirteenth studio record. Having been in the game for so long, the band have been able to make this record sound as fresh and exciting as their early 80’s albums. Along with Sodom and Destruction, Kreator lead the German thrash metal scene and listening to this album is clear as to why that is. I haven’t listened to Kreator for such a long time so I was surprised at how good this record was, but happy that it was good too.

The album is razor sharp thanks to the brilliant guitar work of Sami Yli-Sirnio and Mille’s vocals don’t seem to have changed much over the years which is great because it means that they’ve still got a lot of fight left in them. The album starts off with the graceful “Mars Mantra”, setting the mood for the album, and then “Phantom Antichrist” interrupts everything and cuts your head off with Sami’s technically masterful riffs.

Other great tracks include “The Few, The Proud, The Broken” and “Your Heaven, Me Hell” amongst many other killer tracks. After a couple of speed bumps along the way in Kreator’s long history, it’s nice to see the band doing what they do best better than most other bands. A great record for 2012 from a great band that should be making this kind of record in 2012. I can rest peacefully knowing the world will end at the end of the year, but that I got a lot of great metal music to carry me through.

Luke Helker

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