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Kreator: Cause for conflict
10/08/09 || Habakuk
This album had been physically lying on my shelves in its special
edition metal box for years and I didn’t touch it after one or two
listens, because I had basically forgotten about it, had a fixed image
of Kreator in my head anyway and thought I knew about their history
enough to skip an album from 1995. Yes, this was in a mental bag with
“Renewal” and “Endorama”, which suck, so I read. Maybe they do, still
haven’t heard them. Maybe I should give them a chance, because this is
not half as bad as I was compelled to think by just reading about
Kreator’s history.
Anyway, when one of these days came up where boredom struck me, I
decided to give this another go. Obviously a couple of years did make a
difference, because I suddenly found that this is indeed some very good
stuff and quite different from what I thought or remembered.
After listening to the first song, “Prevail”, for a minute, the impression sets in that this is “Chaos A.D.”, just without Sepultura since the groove, the vibe, the lyrics (although social commentary is not exactly something Mille had to be introduced to…) and the guitar tone are very similar. That impression actually lasts, as the influences are quite obvious. I think it’s no secret that these two bands had been following each others’ outputs quite well, and the Cavalera connection had clearly led the way with “Chaos A.D.”. The guitar tone and production on “Cause for conflict” are heavier than on any of the earlier Kreator albums, we get to hear a lot of bass, there are shitloads of groove, and some of the guitar lead work and riffs are clearly taken from the Sepulturean age. However it soon becomes clear that everything is still a bit more riff-heavy and thrashier than the Brazilians’ 1994 album.
Now there are people that already hated “Chaos A.D.” because it was
no “Arise” or “Beneath the remains” again (or a return to
“Schizophrenia”, for that matter). It comes as no surprise that with
these people, “Cause for conflict” is not exactly a crowd pleaser, but
even then, enough stuff on here is trademark Kreator. This is still
firmly embedded in thrash metal, after all. For example, I can’t see
many differences between Mille’s vocals on “Coma of souls” and this, as
they’re only a tiny bit deeper, like on earlier Kreator, the drumming
during the fast thrash parts is still as un-punk as it gets and
shredding is still ever-present. It’s Mille Petrozza and Frank
Blackfire, after all. Needless to say, the instrumental performances are
spot-on. Also, we still get classic thrash song titles like “[Noun] of
[second noun with negative connotation]” and “[Adjective] [noun]” incl.
the respective lyrics.
The only problem with this album is that after you’ve accustomed to its
formula, you’re not exactly spoiled with variation. Everything’s good,
everything’s heavy, but after four songs, you kind of know what it’s all
about, which is a major flaw compared to “Chaos A.D.” whose biggest
strength is the variation that sets in after that initial kick in the
face. Where Sepultura started to wander off into tribal territory and
set the pace for their follow-up, Kreator got stuck a bit. Granted,
Germanic tribes are a stupid theme (see “United by hatred” by
Destruction), but still, “Cause for conflict” doesn’t go
anywhere. It’s not like the quality drops, but the material is just not
catchy enough to keep the listener engaged for 50 minutes. In this
case, even the most exciting kicks in the face will strike you
unconscious after a while.
- Information
- Released: 1995
- Label: G.U.N. Records
- Website: www.kreator-terrorzone.de
- Band
- Miland Petrozza: vocals, guitars
- Frank “Blackfire” Gosdzik: guitars
- Christian Giesler: bass
- Joe Cangelosi: drums
- Tracklist
- 01. Prevail
- 02. Catholics despot
- 03. Progressive proletarians
- 04. Crisis of disorder
- 05. Hate inside your head
- 06. Bomb threat
- 07. Men without God
- 08. Lost
- 09. Dogmatic authority
- 10. Sculpture of regret
- 11. Celestial deliverance
- 12. Isolation
