Kreator

Live at The House of Blues

Hollywood, California

November 11th, 2014

Review and Photos by Travis Baumann

Kreator return to North America! When I last reviewed this metal tyrant, it had been my first time seeing them live. With the announcement that the mighty Kreator would be joining Arch Enemy's "War Eternal" tour we all would get a chance to witness them live a second time.

Kreator took to the stage after the very engaging Huntress concluded their opening set, and the mood was ripe for visceral destruction.

They opened the set with the fitting "Violent Revolution" taking that right into "Civilization Collapse", two great songs ripe for reigning in the apocalypse.

The stage was dripped in red lights painting the scene in crimson. For punctuation it would flash blue or green illuminating the giant banner behind them.

The team that is Kreator are a bit more stoic on stage than some bands. They play their business but do not interact that much with the audience, preferring a dark mystique and their music to be their presentation.

They continued the set with "Phobia" and then one of my favorite tracks, "Enemy of God". The lead singer, Millie Petrozza has double duty also playing guitar so stands behind his mic stand playing and singing. He gestures at times to add emphasis.

Longtime bass-man, Speesy Giesler looks out sternly upon the audience as he lays down the lower end while the youthful looking Sami Yli-Sirnio picks up shredding duty on second guitar. The band is rounded out by the consumed Ventor Reil, pounding out the rhythms.

"Voices of the Dead" was up next, rounding out the set with a selection of eras and albums to draw material from. In that vein, they went way back with the track, "Endless Pain" bringing cheers from the fans of old.

They lead into "Victory Will Come" which encouraged chanting sing alongs to the chorus and many a fist in the air.

This brought about "Mars Mantra" which is the tell-tale lead up to the mighty, "Phantom Antichrist". I really love this song and it is so awesome to see live.

Having a support position on the tour, even a very esteemed one, the set was nearing it's tipping point. They continued with "Impossible Brutality" which upped the action in the mosh pit significantly and produced a frenzy of activity throughout the venue.

They would bring their set to a close with a dual punch of old-time fan favorites; the sinister "Hordes of Chaos (A Necrologue for the Elite)", and then the final song of the night, "Pleasure to Kill".

It was a great set, although not nearly long enough, we got a great selection of songs from throughout their career and the House of Blues never disappoints with the sound system, they sounded better than ever.

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