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Gods Of Violence |
Germany
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Review by Lynxie on December 27, 2022.
Nachtblut have always been a guilty pleasure for me. I can still recall the first thought I had when I heard the band’s most popular song Antik on their Chinese playchart. I was relatively new to metal and was extremely confused by the vocals. And then for well nigh half a year I consider them as a really ,,trve” and ,,evil” band. But by the time Vanitas was released, I’d known better - I sort of matured alongside the band. And needless to say it was a satisfying process. Besides, it’s not everyday you find a band that is of the same age as you are.
Nachtblut’s style went through several changes throughout the years. Their debut and sophomore album leaned more to the melodic black metal side with a resemblance to Cradle of Filth. And then you also get Chimonas, mixing a bit of blackened death and symphonic black. The band’s taste for synth first showed in Dogma and then went mayhem in Apostasie, hence the strong and mildly annoying Rammstein likeness in the latter. And now? Now we have Vanitas. Needless to say this is probably the band’s most mature release. Whereas before they were experimenting, the band seem to have finally found its style, or its mixed style of gothic and black metal.
The intro Veritas managed to set up a dark atmosphere. And then followed up by the title track , a very typical black metal song with downright heavy and banging riffs. Leierkind had took a more folksy, more In Extremo approach. This is definitely one of the more stylistically interesting tracks of the album (and truly made me fantasize about the day when they’d wrote a power metal song). Das Puppenhaus went straight to the gothic metal side - hanging out with Chris Harms seems to have its due influence. And I dare say that melody was brainwashing. You can dance to Nur in der Nacht if you want, the band’s taste for the 90s disco music still ran strong in that song. Luckily they reined it in this time. The other numbers on the album falls more on the melodic black metal side. My favorite track on the album is probably the seven-minute Die Toten vergessen nicht. It has its roots back in Die Schritte and Und immer wenn die Nacht anbricht, but this time they had managed to keep up a strong instrumental side and hence making it the most epic and beautiful in the bands discography. Its melody actually reminds me of songs off Summoning’s Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame.
The keyboard and orchestration work throughout the album is something truly worth praising. In fact, Vanity’s had an overall smoother and more precise synth work, especially comparing to their last album. It just adds to the epicness and enhances the guitar like those in Fürchtet was geschrieben steht.
I guess Nachtblut is not your average melodic black metal. They may not be the best existing, but if you want some diversity, then Vanitas is something you shouldn’t miss.
Highlights:
'Vanitas'
'Leierkinder'
'Das Puppenhaus'
'Meine Grausamkeit kennt keine Grenzen'
'Die Toten vergessen nicht'
Rating: 8 out of 10
499Review 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
499Review 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
499Review 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
499Review 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
499