German thrash metal gods KREATOR have released a very special re-issue of their 2001 masterpiece “Violent Revolution” for its 20th anniversary! This new edition of “Violent Revolution” includes a huge selection of assorted live bootleg recordings, grouped together under the name “Bootleg Revolution.” The 20th anniversary edition of “Violent Revolution” is available on various formats, including Digital Album, CD Jewelcase, CD Digipak, Double LP, Cassette and a Ltd. Edition 4LP+2CD Boxset, which also features an exclusive KREATOR comic book called “Graphic Violence – Chapter 1.”
To whet your appetite for the intense “Bootleg Revolution” live material, which has been recorded in countries like Brazil, Korea and Istanbul & on German Festivals like Wacken and Waldrock – please check out an impressive new live video for the title track of “Violent Revolution“.
As the 21st century was born, so Kreator underwent what was nothing less than a seismic creative rebirth. By this time, the iconic German band had released nine studio albums in the 1980s and ’90s, which had established them as one of the most important metal names of these decades.In the first period, they had helped to shape and pioneer the thrash scene through such releases as ‘Pleasure To Kill’ (1986), ‘TerribleCertainty’ (’87) and ‘Extreme Aggression’ (’89). During the following decade, the band had opened up exciting horizons of experimentation on albums like ‘Coma Of Souls’ (1990), ‘Renewal’ (’92) and ‘Endorama'(’99). Now, though, it was time to move into a fresh era, as vocalist/guitarist Mille Petrozza explains. “During the 1990s, we were definitely experimenting with what the band were doing. But (drummer) Ventor and I decided that for this album – our first of the new millennium – we wanted to go back to the sort of sound that we had at the start of Kreator. In other words, to get back to the reason why we began the band in the first place.”
There were some significant changes for this album, one being the fact that the band signed to SPV/Steamhammer. There was also new guitarist introduced, as Sami Yli-Sirniö (who had made his reputation with Finnish band Waltari) took over from Tommy Vetterli. The latter (also known as Tommy T. Baron) had joined in 1996 and played on the ‘Oucast’ (1997) and ‘Endorama’ albums.
As usual, it was Petrozza who did all the writing for the album.
The producer for this album was Andy Sneap, who was now making a name for himself as one of the pre-eminent masters of this art in the modern metal world. Pre-production was done in Essen at KKS Studios, before the band went to Area 51 Studios in Celle, near Hamburg where they recorded the drum and bass (handled by Christian Giesler)
The album title came from something Petrozza had read. “In a book I came across a comment that John F. Kennedy said (in 1962). This was: “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable”. I thought ‘Violent Revolution’ would make a good title for an album. So, I kept it in my mind for this record. I think ‘Violent Revolution’ is a title that makes a real impact.
