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Rating: After 4 experimental albums renewal with industrial influences in 1992, the powerful "Cause For Conflict" (1995), the dark and eerie "Outcast" (1997), and the gothic "Endorama" (1999), Kreator returned in 2001 to the genre that made them famous worldwide: thrash metal, with the new album "Violent Revolution".
Already the title says it all, "violent revolution", yes indeed Kreator return to blow up our stereos with this fabulous album that starts with the wonderful song "Reconquering The Throne" and from the first notes we can understand that it is a typical Kreator song, a brutally fast start that calms in the middle where we find beautiful melodic guitar interweavings, and finally we have the final restart with Ventor’s great double bass drum outbursts.
We move on to "The Patriarch", a beautiful introduction to "Violent Revolution" which showcases a beautiful chorus with Mille's classic angry voice and I find it very ideal to shout at the top of your lungs during concerts.
Next, we find the powerful "All Of The Same Blood", an extremely powerful song that begins with a classic riff and in the song we can hear Mille's screams accompanied by Ventor's usual bone-crushing drumming, and when the song seems to allow us to catch our breath, here comes Petrozza's scream that leads to a kind of drum solo by Ventor that I recommend enjoying in the DVD and which left me speechless.
Next is "Servant In Heaven King In Hell" which starts with a delicious bass line. Followed by "Second Awakening", a sort of continuation of the mythical "Awakening Of The Gods". Then comes "Ghetto War" which keeps the album consistently at very high levels, with Mille's vocal part releasing amazing screams, and we arrive at "Replicas Of Life" that starts with Mille's clean voice in the style of "Endorama" and one might think it's a calm song but instead it explodes and turns out to be a very powerful and angry song, and also notable is the very beautiful guitar solo. Thus, we reach the last songs, namely "Bitter Sweet Revenge" which starts with a notable drum piece and proceeds with a granite riff that almost seems like it came out of "Cause For Conflict", then we find "Mind On Fire", the penultimate song "Mind On Fire" with elements that recall the style of "Outcast", and finally the very violent "System Decay" with killer death metal style riffs, Mille's harrowing screams, and Ventor’s drumming that hammers us even in this song.
This album also boasts excellent production thanks to Andy Sneap's great work that gives a touch of modernity to the sound making it even more powerful. Finally, I would like to emphasize Petrozza & co.'s skill in creating a perfect blend between the new sound acquired from the 90s experimental albums and the raw and violent thrash of the 80s, creating a killer record.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Reconquering the Throne (04:13)
Paralyse the actions of the weak
Force fed propaganda preying on the meek
Individuals resisting defeat
Manipulate the colonies, infected by their seed
Vampires of possession
Shroud of cold distrust
Watching as you finally fall
Then drag you through the dust
The only way to save your soul
From scum with hearts of stone
Reconquering The Throne
Parasites have drained you from your mind
Anesthisize your conscience infliction will take time
Fools once trusted, guilty of the crime
Suck deep upon your energy, delusions lead the blind
Our rising has begun
A million hearts
not alone
Light the spark
Storm the throne!
03 Violent Revolution (04:54)
Society failed to tolerate me
And I have failed to tolerate society
Still I can't find what you adore
Inside I hear the echoes of an inner war
Nothing can take the horror from me
Your sick world, the loss of all morality
My hate has grown as strong as my confusion
My only hope, my only solution
Is a violent revolution
Violent revolution, violent revolution
Reason for the people to destroy
I do not need a cause for my rage
I just despise the nature of the human race
When all I see is repulsion and hate
Violence becomes my only friend, my saving grace
When love is lost beyond your control
A pale shadow of lust can not enlight your soul
So keep your ice cold bitter illusions
I don't need your empty world my only solution
Is a violent revolution
Violent revolution, violent revolution
Reason for the people to destroy
Beauty is no more it's all gone
An utopia will not come
Trust I can not feel, only pain
And my burning mind has gone insane
04 All of the Same Blood (06:12)
See them all marching beyond the horizon of hate
Bound by an ancient curse, annihilate
Nothing will break them apart
No sign of fear ever touches their hearts
So they endure side by side
Brothers in spirit their trust and their faith
Their bloodline
All Of The Same Blood, All Of The Same Blood
Legions forgotten by the gods
See them all marching towards the final frontier
Fantasies killed by realities cold atmosphere
Ambitions to purify
Cleansing all cast out dehumanise
Destroy all that crosses their path
Armies of totalitarian psychopaths
All Of The Same Blood, All Of The Same Blood
Legions forgotten by the gods
Is this what distopia breeds
Within the darkest beliefs
Taking utopia away
Distorted truth lead you astray
With time you will come to see
Deprived of the hope that was built on unity
And so the darkness fades, metropolis awakes
Another empty day in lives so dark and grey
And words of propaganda hammered into their heads
Consumers swastikas to put some life into the dead
05 Servant in Heaven - King in Hell (05:09)
Some may struggle and some may fall
One only follows, another one leads
And while some only endure constant slavery
Others satisfy their never ending greed
Some born to win, some born to loose
What fate may come, only time can tell
Better to live in sin than nothing else to choose
Servant In Heaven, King In Hell
Some may give and some may take
One only suffers others celebrate
And while some know that their time will never come
Others realise that it's never ever too late
Some see the dark, some see the light
What's in your view only time can tell
Better to taste the fire than swallowed by the night
Servant In Heaven, King In Hell
Some are cast aside as anger blinds the mind
Baptised in flames to lead again
To see them take it all a tearing of the heart
A thousand reasons for your hate
10 Bitter Sweet Revenge (05:25)
Jealousy has turned a man into a demon
Wounded from deep within
Love has turned to hate so murder fantasies
Beyond all reason can begin
And so your heart it fills with rage
Driven by words that sealed your fate
There’s nothing left as we descent
Upon your Bitter Sweet Revenge
Pain grows stronger than you ever thought it could
Kiss of Judas brings deceit
Necromancer waits biding time
The serpent's venom taste bittersweet
Outbreak of panic, once oppressed
Crisis of anger self possessed
On mental scars shadows descend
Upon your Bitter Sweet Revenge
Taken quickly with precision
Pay for all repulsive lies
What once started as a vision
Becomes reality's demise
Anger is coming like a lust now
Eating slowly through your mind
Everlasting penetration
Ignore the fear deep in the eyes
There ain’t no love without hate
There's no existence without fate
There's no beginning without end
There's no betrayal without revenge
11 Mind on Fire (03:57)
So set your mind on fire
And burn all bridges down
Ashes are left behind to lead you
Further underground
From this void of confusion
Into a sphere of light
Hypnotic great illusion
Keeps this bitter world outside
Nothing here to break you now as Eden becomes real
Nothing that can take away the pleasures that you feel
Orgies between ruins on the treasures of desire
Offered as a gift from god now as your time of suffering expired
Mind On Fire
To set your mind on fire
Brings total liberty
And as your soul burns
You'll awake in purest fantasy
And all those haunting demons
That live inside your head
Fade in this shining freedom
Where the angels fear to tread
Voices getting clearer now can you hear them call
Voices from a higher place mystifying all
Voices will not disappear in this souls empire
Voices of transgression ancient opium to take you higher
Mind On Fire
Holy drug of kings and queens
Like a cancer on the face of desire
For reality is not what it seems
And the rules were written down by a liar
12 System Decay (05:33)
Look into cities eyes
Mirror of souls
Now tell me what you see
Beneath the hole
Another sick
Another poor
Another slave
Another weak
Another lost
another dark System Decay
System Decay
I look into your eyes
Empty and cold
I'll tell you what i see
All that unfolds
Another sheep
Another dead
Another grave
Another cursed
Another doomed
Another dark System Decay
System Decay
Silence falls when worlds collide
Egos replaced souls in fields of lies
Minds and spirits sacrificed
Hearts controlled by a modern lord of flies
And in this dying world
Without a sun
Existing shadow like
Fear what may come
A poisoned arrow shot
Straight through your heart
And so you fade away
Within this dark system decay
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Other reviews
By AR (Anonima Recensori)
This CD is proof that Kreator can still crush our bones, and they do it better than ever… all the songs are driven by rage, rich in violence, but also with new and interesting insights.
"Second Awakening" is of a different kind, striking anyone from the first listen; with its catchy chorus and relentless rhythm, it certainly doesn’t go unnoticed.
