Almost exceptional...
Kreator reward the dedicated metalhead. Immensely influential, admired and respected by almost everyone throughout the history of the genre. Technically brilliant, consistent, resilient, yet always just beneath the mainstream metal radar. Fans of Slayer, Metallica, Pantera and Sepultura were ten a penny, but whenever you met someone who knew Kreator, you felt like you were in on a special secret. This is a Kreator double live album, and deserves 8/10 automatically.

So what's good? This is one of the few elite metal bands with enough great tunes to fill a double live album. Personally I can think of enough Kreator tunes to fill two double live albums. All the obvious fast-as-hell old school Thrash classics are present and correct; 'Tormentor', 'Flag of Hate', 'Betrayer', 'Pleasure to Kill', 'Extreme Aggression' and 'Terrible Certainty'. You then get the very best of their more elaborate crunch-tunes; 'Riot of Violence', 'People of the Lie' and 'Terrorzone', a couple of overlooked favourites such as 'Under the Guillotine', 'Awakening of the Gods' and 'Coma of Souls'. Then you get dramatically revitalised versions of tunes like 'Renewal', 'Lost', and 'Phobia' from their patchy mid 90's albums.

What's bad about it? The balance is a bit off - one song from 'Terrible Certainty' and three from 'Outcast'? How can 'Leave this World Behind' or 'Black Sunrise' provide better additions than 'Behind the Mirror'? Why are there so many pinch harmonics all over the place? Why do the 'Violent Revolution' songs seem to have pointless melodic breaks? 'All of the Same Blood' sounds like the best Kreator song ever until it hits the two minute mark, when it suddenly becomes almost unlistenable.

Still, you can't please everybody with a record like this. Buy it immediately and make your own mind up.

Kreator rulez!!
Can't get enough of this band. This is good old thrash at its best.

One of the best live CD's this decade!
Kreator, the long running, well known thrash band from
Germany, finally released a live CD, and well, they did an excellent job.

Not this bullcrap, mixed in the studio, Pro Tools. 300 overdubs crap, raw, unalduturated live metal.

I won't go into extensive detail track by track, but will give a brief synopsis track by track.

Disc 1 :

The Patriarch - Nice instrumental piece, perfect for an opener. 3.5/5

Violent Revolution - Great opening track, nothing fast, just a mid paced tempo thrasher with melody, and a 'violent' nice chorus. 4.5/5

Reconquering the Throne - Holy smokes, much better live than in the studio. 4/5

Extreme Aggressions - One of my all time favorites, fast and pissed off, the way Kreator should be. 5/5

People of the Lie - Their 'hit'..lol! Not bad, but never was my favorites. 3/5

All of the Same Blood - Awesome opening riffage, great tune. 4/5

Phobia - "Is there someone following you, someone following you??" Heavy song and one of the best on here! 5/5

Pleasure to Kill - Ancient stuff here, a classic, alot better than the original. 4/5

Black Sunrise - Okay tune, a bit slow, and melodic, but it's not too bad. 3.75/5

Renewal - I hated the original so bad, but the live version is alot better, especially the vocals. Gone is the "barking", and back is Millie's venemous growl. 4/5

Servant in Hell - King in Hell - Didnt like this too much, bored me to death. 2/5

Terrible Certanity - I love this tune, awesome lyrics. 5/5

Riot of Violence - Booooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!! Be better if Millie sang it, be alot better! Ventor...just drum will ya!!! 2/5

Disc 2:

Lost - Not familiar with this song at all, nice opening drums and riff though. 3/5

Coma of Souls - If this wouldn't have been on here, I would have never bought the CD. 5/5

Second Awakening - Again, another Violent Revolution tune I didn't like, not bad though. 3/5

Terror Zone - Who doesn't like this song. Awesome!!!!!!!!! 4/5

Betrayer - Too many words to describe. 5/5

Leave This World Behind - Should have been "leave this track behind". 2/5

Under the Guillotine - Oh baby, old school....yeah!!!!!!! 5/5

Awakening of the God - Butchered version got this a lower rating. 4/5

Golden Age - 1 Endorama song...just one?????????????????? I loved that CD, but oh well. I liked the studio version better, but this is okay live. 4/5

Flag of Hate - "It's time to raise the flag of ....HATE" 5/5

Tormentor - 5/5

Could have been better if Servant in Heaven-KIng in Hell was replaced by
Replicas of Life and Leave this World Behind with Toxic Trace, but we can't have it all.

Amazing DCD-must have for any METAL fan
You get to hear the german trash gods sound better than ever because of better production. They're playing on both cds sounds amazing, the crowds sound great, esp the koreans. The only negative is that perhaps a few songs could have been added, but that won't make me knock it down a star.

Well worth waiting all those 15 years for
Some people hate live albums. Frankly, they are wrong, and albums like this is why. With "Live Kreation", Germany's finest musical outfit have finally delivered the full-length live document we've been pining for since the "Out of the dark... into the light" EP from the late 1980ies. It's been roughly 15 years in coming, but it's been worth it.

Having seen Mille Petrozza and his crew live on several occasions, I knew they could hack it onstage, but I never expected them to sound this crisp and controlled. I mean that in a good way. For those of us that have followed these charming Ruhr Valley boys through the years, the transformation from the primal death/thrash dervishes of "Endless Pain" to the commissars of precision of "Endorama" and "Violent revolution" has been a heartening experience; Kreator proves that it is possible to get smarter without losing that angry spark. With their newfound control coupled with their old fire, they sound better than ever. Considering that they have always been up there with the very best, that's no mean feat.

The song selection should satisfy everyone, with its heady mix of old and new material; all the essential classics ("Flag of hate", "People of the Lie", "Riot of violence") are here, deftly mixed with new, strong material. I miss a few personal favorites like "Son of Evil", "Endorama", "Ripping corpse" and, especially, "Toxic trace", but this is a minor grievance, as is the shortened version of that old monster "Awakening of the gods". Indeed, in my state of ecstatic rapture, I am reduced to complain about the cheesy cover art to find anything wrong. That's how good "Live Kreation" is.

I have loved Kreator since their inception, and I still do. The reason for this, besides their indisputable musical qualities, is that they have remained true to their vision throughout all those years. Today they are the only viable remaining alternative to Slayer for that vital daily fix of high-octane thrash metal. If you don't have this album, you are less than an entire human.