Kreator may never have enjoyed the commercial success of some of their American counterparts, but they have a fair claim to being the ultimate thrash band. They combine Slayer’s intensity, Megadeth’s more progressive instincts, Metallica’s sense of melody and the gnarly riffing of Exodus, then filter it all through that unmistakably Teutonic severity.
Their return to Paris, after three years of postponements, feels suitably triumphant. The Olympia is sold out and packed with metal maniacs as Kreator tear through material from the excellent Hate Über Alles, including “Midnight Sun” with Sofia Portanet, alongside vintage assaults such as “Pleasure To Kill” and “Endless Pain.”
It takes barely half a song before the floor erupts. Moshers and crowd-surfers appear almost immediately, followed by circle pits and walls of death as the room turns into controlled carnage.
Lamb of God, who is headlining, have their work cut out for them.
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