Band · Germany
Kreator
Formed in 1982
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About
Kreator is a German thrash metal band from Essen, formed in 1982. Their current line-up consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Miland "Mille" Petrozza, drummer Jürgen "Ventor" Reil, lead guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö, and bassist Frédéric Leclercq. The band's line-up has changed multiple times throughout its 44-year career, most noticeably their bassists and lead guitarists. Petrozza and Reil are the only two original members left in Kreator, although the latter left the band in 1994 but rejoined in 1996. Yli-Sirniö has been the lead guitarist of Kreator since 2001, while Leclercq joined in 2019 as the replacement of Christian "Speesy" Giesler, who had been in the band since 1994.
To date, Kreator has released sixteen studio albums, two EPs, two live albums and three compilation albums. They gained a large underground fanbase within the international thrash metal community, with their second studio album Pleasure to Kill (1986) regarded as an influential album of the genre. Many of their subsequent albums — including Terrible Certainty (1987), Extreme Aggression (1989), and Coma of Souls (1990) — were also highly acclaimed. Despite being an influential band, as well as one of the first European thrash metal bands to sign to a major label (signing to Epic Records in 1988), Kreator did not achieve mainstream popularity until later albums, including their thirteenth studio album Phantom Antichrist (2012) and its follow-up Gods of Violence (2017), both of which charted highly in many countries, with the latter reaching number one on the German charts. Their latest studio album, Krushers of the World, was released on 16 January 2026.
Kreator has achieved worldwide sales of over two million units for combined sales of all their albums, making them one of the best-selling German thrash metal bands of all time. Along with Destruction, Sodom and Tankard, they are credited as one of the "Big Four" of Teutonic thrash metal, responsible for developing and popularizing the German thrash metal scene, as well as pioneering the then-emerging death metal and black metal genres during the mid-1980s. The staff of Loudwire named them the 31st best metal band of all time in 2016. In 2025, Zahra Huselid of Screen Rant included the band in the site's list of "10 Best Thrash Metal Bands Who Weren't The Big Four".
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Also in Français
Kreator est un groupe allemand de thrash metal, originaire d'Essen. Leur style musical est similaire à celui de Destruction et Sodom, les deux autres plus grands groupes du thrash metal allemand. Ces trois groupes sont souvent crédités pour avoir lancé le death metal, grâce à des éléments sonores qui aideront à l'émergence du genre. Le groupe est formé en 1982 sans nom, mais décide d'emprunter le nom de Tormentor en 1984. Ils jouent à l'origine du speed metal inspirés par Venom. Les chansons de Kreator débutent dans la veine du thrash metal tout en s'orientant metal industriel et gothique de 1992 à 1999, avant de revenir à leur son classique thrash metal.
Depuis sa création, Kreator a fait paraître 14 albums studio, deux EPs, un album live et trois compilations musicales. Le groupe fait paraître son premier album, Endless Pain, en 1985. Malgré la popularité modérée de leurs premiers albums, dont Pleasure to Kill (1986), aux États-Unis, Kreator ne parvient au succès commercial qu'à partir de 2009 lors de la parution de son douzième album, Hordes of Chaos, qui atteint la 165e place du classement Billboard 200 et qui débute 16e aux Media Control Charts, la plus haute place du groupe dans ce classement. En juin 2012, Kreator fait paraître son treizième album, Phantom Antichrist, qui a bien été reçu par la presse spécialisée.
Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Discography
Albums
- 1985 Endless Pain
- 1986 Pleasure to Kill
- 1987 Terrible Certainty
- 1989 Extreme Aggression
- 1990 Coma of Souls
- 1992 Renewal
- 1995 Cause for Conflict
- 1997 Outcast
- 1999 Endorama
- 2001 Violent Revolution
- 2005 Enemy of God
- 2009 Hordes of Chaos
Show all (16)
- 2012 Phantom Antichrist
- 2017 Gods of Violence
- 2022 Hate über alles
- 2026 Krushers of the World
EPs
- 1986 Flag of Hate
- 1988 Out of the Dark... Into the Light
- 1988 Sounds Waves 1
- 1989 Advance Tracks From the Upcoming Epic Release
- 1999 Chosen Few
- 2012 The Big Teutonic 4
- 2015 The Big Teutonic 4 – Part II
- 2016 Violence Unleashed
- 2019 For the Hordes EP
Singles
- 1987 Behind the Mirror
- 1989 Betrayer
- 1990 People of the Lie
- 1995 Isolation
- 1995 Lost
- 1997 Leave This World Behind
- 2012 Phantom Antichrist
- 2012 Civilization Collapse
- 2013 Kreator / Legion of the Damned
- 2014 Iron Destiny
- 2014 Iron Destiny / Breaking the Law
- 2016 Gods of Violence
Show all (32)
- 2016 Earth Under the Sword
- 2016 Satan Is Real
- 2017 Totalitarian Terror
- 2017 Man in Black / Warrior Heart
- 2017 Hail to the Hordes
- 2018 Winter Martyrium
- 2018 Europe After the Rain
- 2020 666 - World Divided
- 2020 Checkmate / 666 - World Divided
- 2022 Hate über alles
- 2022 Strongest of the Strong
- 2022 All of the Same Blood
- 2022 Midnight Sun
- 2022 Death to the World
- 2022 Victory Will Come
- 2023 State of Unrest
- 2025 Seven Serpents
- 2025 Tränenpalast
- 2025 Satanic Anarchy
- 2025 Satanic Anarchy / Strongest of the Strong