Firstly can I just point out that Kreator are a band that I have not heard any music from since 1989's "Extreme Aggression" and apparently (according to www.allmusic.com) this is their 8th release since that album so there's a heck of a lot of the bands' work I'm not familiar with. With that in mind however I, for one, am glad to see a resurgence in popularity in this type of music, both with newer bands like ShadowsFall and Lamb Of God and a return to form from bands such as Exodus, Anthrax and now Kreator (I wonder if Metallica are taking note and have any plans for releasing a decent album some time soon?!?).

Much of the album is classic mid-paced thrash that evokes memories of prime time Slayer, Metallica and Testament (and of course Kreator's earlier work). Andy Sneap's production is spot on for this type of music, excellent guitar and drum sounds that really convey the power of the music to the listener. As a band Kreator display excellent musicianship and are really tight rhythmically, despite the fact that only Mille and Ventor remain from the original line-up.

If I have any criticism of this album it is that too much of it is played at the same tempo and the most enjoyable tracks are those where the band have added some variation. "Voices Of The Dead" for instance begins with almost acoustic bass that leads into some violining guitar that then provides an arpeggiated backdrop for a spoken intro, which in turn gives way to an almost Iron Maidenesque melody, all good stuff. This inventiveness is echoed elsewhere in tracks such as "Dying Race Apocalypse" and "The Ancient Plague" and they up the tempo for "World Anarchy" which after a death scream that equals Tom Arayas best, the furious double bass drumming and guitar riffing provide a real thrash work out.

That's not to dismiss the rest of the album though as the band are obviously playing a style of music they love and they do it extremely well, its just that over the course of a whole album this can become a little wearing (and maybe this reviewer doesn't quite have the stamina he had when he was 20 either!!) but for afficionados of "classic" thrash this is a real treat .

Let us know your views on 'Enemy Of God'

Track List

Enemy of God
Impossible Brutality
Suicide Terrorist
World Anarchy
Dystopia
Voices of The Dead
Murder Fantasies
When Death Takes its Dominion
One Evil Comes - A Million Follow
Dying Race Apocalypse
Under A Total Blackened Sky
The Ancient Plague

Line Up

Mille Petrozza - guitars, vocals
Jürgen "Ventor" Reil - drums
Christian "Speesy" Giesler - bass
Sami Yli-Sirniö - guitars