Kreator Take Melbourne Hordes By Storm

Following the fall of thrash metal in the early nineties, its subsequent rebirth, (which has born witness to countless reunions, new tours, and the hasty donning of 80s denim), has been nothing but impressive.  German thrash legends, Kreator, returned this month to Australian shores, following their 2006 tour, to support their superb new album Hordes of Chaos and to further prove that age is no obstacle when it comes to playing heavy music.

Despite the general population’s ignorance in regards to thrash metal, it was clear that the crowd at Billboards, on Wednesday the 23^rd of September, knew this to be a special event.  Kreator, the leader of the Teutonic thrash movement of the early 80s, alongside Sodom and Destruction, have inspired countless bands, and their influence is still tangible in music today.

Support act Mortal Sin, a well known Australian band that is currently enjoying the positive side effects of a Generation-Y following, did a fantastic job of warming up the crowd.  Flying in the face of the widespread ambivalent support tradition, Mortal Sin played a tight and engaging set that had the crowd moving and yelling approval.  Front man Matt Maurer, after greeting the fans who had followed them for over twenty years, and acknowledging that some of them might “not have  long hair anymore, and might have a bit of a beer belly”, obliged the crowd by stage diving, mic in hand, to crowd surf his way back to stage.

It wasn’t a long wait for Kreator to arrive.  The usual impatient chanting gave way to ecstatic yells of delight as front man Mille emerged out of the red smoke, his hands held aloft.  Though visibly aged since Kreator’s last visit, from the moment he yelled out to the audience with his trademark high pitched screech, the entire crowd was captivated.  Opening with the song Hordes of Chaos from the new album of the same name, Kreator launched into a hectic eighty minutes of totally uncompromising thrash that sounded as fresh and exciting as it did (I suspect) twenty five years ago.  The mosh pit was equally as uncompromising, not to mention the workload the bouncers had, managing the wave of crowd surfers that floated toward the band, a mess of hair, denim jackets and Nike high tops.

The set list was skewed toward the new material (the complaints from the older folks at the urinal were testament to this) however most of the classics were played, the original generation (now reaching their fifties) not forgotten during songs such as Pleasure to Kill, Betrayer and Flag of Hate, which certainly attracted some of the louder shouts of appreciation.

Despite Mille’s enthusiastic demands that the crowd “fuck this place up”, Billboards survived the night and proved, once again, not only that it is a brilliant venue for live music, but its bouncers are extremely fair, despite the mosh pit and crowd surfing that saw many fans sustain a few injuries, myself included.

Despite some generational tension (us younger folks “didn’t get it” according to one of the elder statesman), both men and women of all ages seemed to appreciate Kreator’s take no prisoners live act, proof that they are still at a creative and musical peak.  Long may it remain so.

Kreator – Horde Of Chaos Australian Tour
With guests Mortal Sin
Billboard The Venue
170 Russell St, Melbourne
Wednesday 23rd September
Kreator official site
Billboard website