One thought on “Kreator: Terrible Certainty-80’s-1987.”

1. Mercyful Trouble, March 28th, 2021
   Written based on this version: 1987, Cassette, Noise Records

   It’s certainly true that Kreator abandoned their extreme (and boundary pushing) roots going into their third album, 1987’s Terrible Certainty, at this point featuring a tighter and more straightforward thrash metal approach. However, the direction feels natural for a maturing thrash band and there really was no need to attempt to make another Pleasure to Kill- Mille had become a more socially conscious person, so the change in lyrical content on Terrible Certainty only reflects this. Meanwhile, the joining of a new guitarist and the more refined playing and execution from the existing band members feels suitable with the abandonment of crude lyrical themes anyway. To me, it’s similar to what would happen with Sepultura from Brazil once Andreas joined on guitar, going from Morbid Visions to Schizophrenia this same year.

   Endless Pain was a damn cool thrash/black attack that showed ambition, and Pleasure to Kill is a record that every metalhead loves, due largely, I think, to the consistency of the tracklist – all killer, no filler. Classic extreme thrash in every sense! However, I’ll still take the early work of Celtic Frost, Sepultura, Slayer, and Possessed for my 80’s extreme metal, because I do feel that Kreator reached their fullest potential, and most honest creative vision, with albums like Terrible Certainty, Extreme Aggression, and Coma of Souls- you know, their non-extreme thrash albums they released before experimenting with their sound. Terrible Certainty, though, is the first and best album of this era, like a second debut in a way. The ideas are so coherently executed, the riffs cut though like a lawnmower blade through swiss cheese, and every moment exudes passion and intensity in exemplary thrash form. This album isn’t as gloomy or detached as Destruction’s albums circa this period, nor as cruel and outright punishing as Sodom’s, but it is exhilarating in every sense and proves that thrash metal still had plenty of its finest hours to offer going into the later part of the 80’s.

   I generally have a lot less to say about thrash metal than doom metal, but Terrible Certainty is easily in my top 5 thrash albums, so I do have a fair bit to say about it – the first point of which actually happens to be parallel to doom metal circa 1987. The structure of albums like Day of Reckoning by Pentagram are, as vastly different as Kreator may be than such a Sabbath-like group, not dissimilar to Kreator’s structure on Terrible Certainty – you start with a banger or two, before building up to something more involved towards the middle (in this case, the title track and “Toxic Trace”, broken up by the Ventor-sung “As the World Burns”), then having more sublime deep cuts (“One of Us”) and finally closing on a more emotionally powerful note (“Behind the Mirror”). Don’t worry, contrasting this album with dinosaur doom isn’t the meat and potatoes of this review, but that pacing to the intensity here is just something I found interesting, and it is probably something that makes this a doom metal fan’s favorite (or one of their favorite) thrash album(s).

   Songwise, Kreator’s got emotional, dynamic riffing and delivery down to perfection. “Storming With Menace” is the banger most people remember well from this album, and coupled with the preceding opener “Blind Faith”, it’s not at all hard to see why. Both have unforgettable refrains, with Blind Faith relying more on Mille’s vocal delivery and Storming relying more on an unnerving progression. Both of the first two songs here would make a very cool 7″ and that would still be a 10/10 thrash release in my book. The title track has more buildup to it (see the intense opening riff) but is also somehow more immediate with the main hook and familiar chorus. However, my favorite instrumental segment on this album has to be the beginning of “Toxic Trace”, which makes “Tornado of Souls” by Megadeth sound less like a technical thrash marvel and more like wanking buffoonery with no balls, which it’s not, but Toxic Trace still blows it out of the water compositionally. It’s also the perfect balance of a relentless assault (especially the jaw-dropping chorus) and a more sophisticated approach. Certainly, the palm-muted riffs played primarily on the A and D strings break up the unforgiving thrashiness while still being interesting due to a curious feel. “No Escape” has elements of melodicism to it, but not in an overbearing way, because if you bring up this album to any veteran thrasher, they’ll mention No Escape as a highlight and a prime example of what made thrash classics like Terrible Certainty so charismatic and unforgettable.

   This is, bar none, the definition of ridiculously enjoyable and well-calculated thrash. When it comes to thrash with sublime musicianship and songwriting ideas, many albums are brought up before Terrible Certainty, and Coma of Souls is usually thought to be Kreator’s technical peak, but the third album is somehow just the right balance of technicality and unadulterated fury. Everything here serves a purpose and goes in a coherent direction. Essential thrash!

   LikeLike

   Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Enter your comment here...

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Email (required) (Address never made public)

Name (required)

Website

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

Notify me of new comments via email.

Notify me of new posts via email.

Δ