KREATOR Announces 'Krushers Of The World' Album; European Tour With EXODUS And CARCASS To Launch In March 2026

German/Finnish/French thrash metal veterans KREATOR will release their sixteenth studio album, "Krushers Of The World", on January 16, 2026 via Nuclear Blast Records.

KREATOR recorded "Krushers Of The World" at Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden with producer Jens Bogren. Bogren previously helmed KREATOR's "Phantom Antichrist" (2012) and "Gods Of Violence" (2017) LPs.

Following the recent releases of the KREATOR documentary film "Hate & Hope" as well as "Your Heaven, My Hell", the autobiography of KREATOR frontman Mille Petrozza, "Krushers Of The World" will be the next step in the evolution of KREATOR — a band that is still at its peak more than forty years into its career.

"Krushers Of The World" is not a shy title — it is a statement, an expression of pride and self-awareness knowing how long and hard the band's path has been and knowing what they still have to say and share with their ever-growing following. After the buzz around the movie and book, it is time for KREATOR to let the riffs, the roaring vocals and thunderous drums do the talking.

Alongside the album news, KREATOR revealed plans for a monumental European tour across 20 countries, joining forces with fellow metal powerhouses CARCASS, EXODUS and NAILS.

The tour kicks off on March 20, 2026 in Lisbon, Portugal, at MEO Arena and wraps up on April 25, 2026 in Copenhagen, Denmark, at Poolen. Highlights include shows in London, Manchester, Glasgow, Paris, Milan, Berlin, Stockholm, and more.

A new KREATOR single, "Seven Serpents", will arrive this Friday, September 26, alongside album pre-orders and a tour pre-sale, with general tickets going on sale Monday, September 29 at 10 a.m. local time.

Tour dates:

March 20 - Lisbon, Portugal - MEO Arena
March 22 - Madrid, Spain - Palacio Vistalegre
March 24 - Paris, France - Zenith Paris
March 25 - Brussels, Belgium - Ancienne Belgique
March 27 - London, UK - O2 Academy Brixton
March 28 - Manchester, UK - O2 Apollo Manchester
March 29 - Glasgow, UK - O2 Academy Glasgow
March 31 - Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg - Rockhal
April 01 - Zürich, Switzerland - Halle 622
April 03 - 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands - Mainstage Brabanthallen
April 04 - Essen, Germany - Grugahalle
April 05 - Frankfurt, Germany - Jahrhunderthalle
April 07 - Milan, Italy - Alcatraz
April 08 - Ljubljana, Slovenia - Media Center
April 09 - Vienna, Austria - Gasometer
April 10 - Ludwigsburg, Germany - MHP Arena
April 11 - Munich, Germany - Zenith
April 12 - Karlín, Czechia - Forum Karlín
April 13 - Budapest, Hungary - Barba Negra
April 15 - Warsaw, Poland - COS Torwar
April 17 - Hamburg, Germany - Inselparkhalle
April 18 - Berlin, Germany - Uber Eats Music Hall
April 20 - Riga, Latvia - Palladium Riga
April 21 - Helsinki, Finland - Black Box Finland Oy
April 23 - Stockholm, Sweden - Annexet
April 24 - Oslo, Norway - Sentrum Scene
April 25 - Copenhagen, Denmark – Poolen

In a recent interview with Greece's Altars Of Metal conducted the Chania Rock Festival, KREATOR guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö stated about the band's upcoming LP: " I'm happy to tell you that the entire March, April, May, we were working on the album, intensively, every day. In May, we went to Sweden to record the new album with Jens Bogren in Sweden, in Örebro, and the plan for it is to come out early next year."

Asked how the new KREATOR album will be different from what we have heard from the band before, Sami said: "Well, there is a little different kind of an edge. For example, for a couple of songs we tuned down the guitar. Not every song. And, of course, it affects everything. And just different kind of songs. It's hard for me to describe it because I'm so close to it, so near to it, but I'm really looking forward to hearing the mixes myself. It was a lot of work in the spring time. And I hope people will like it too. Let's see."

KREATOR's upcoming effort will be the follow-up to 2022's "Hate Über Alles", which was recorded at Hansa Tonstudio in Berlin, Germany. Helming the sessions for that LP was Arthur Rizk, who has previously worked with CAVALERA CONSPIRACY, CODE ORANGE, POWER TRIP and SOULFLY, among others.

"Hate Über Alles" marked KREATOR's first album with bassist Frédéric Leclercq, who joined the group in 2019.

In a recent interview with Loaded Radio, Leclercq stated about KREATOR's upcoming music:  "We are putting the final touches to a new album that will be released sometime next year. I spent two months away — I was in Germany [working with the band on the songs] and then in Sweden."

Asked what the new KREATOR material is like, Leclercq said: "It's great. [Laughs] I think everybody agrees to say it's better than 'Hate Über Alles', which was already cool. And that was my first [album] with the band. But I think this one has better songs. I mean, that's how we feel. I'm just saying it's gonna be great."

Regarding what it's like working with Petrozza, Leclercq said: "It's cool. They're all easy to work with. And Mille comes with the majority of the riffs and the vocals. He works differently than me in a sense that for him the lyrics, that's what's important. And from the lyrics will come the riffs and whatnot, and obviously he needs to be able to play the riff while singing. So it's a different way of building songs. So my job there is just to check guitar, melodies and solo parts and whatnot. That's what I do. And it's great, because that was already the case on the first album I did with them, is that I told them, I said… I'm very passionate when it comes to music, and I have a tendency to go, like when I hear something, I'm gonna be, like, 'Yeah, we should try this,' and very — not a dictator in that sense, but very [forcefully] giving orders. And they were, like, 'Oh, no, that's cool.' So they actually really trust me on this. So I pick things that they not always notice, and they give me that sort of freedom to arrange a bit, and that's great."

He continued: "I love the KREATOR guys. The minute I joined them, it felt like I was part of the family forever. That's how we feel. And I'm not [just] saying [that], because it sounds like very cliché, but it's really the truth. I've known Mille for a long time, before I joined DRAGONFORCE, actually. I met him in Germany in 2003, I think. So we've always been bumping into each other since then, at festivals and whatnot. And when I joined the band, there was no audition. There was me and no one else. I'm the first one they asked, and I said yes. And I learned the songs and I went in the rehearsal room and I was a little shy for a few bars. And then I was, like, 'That's cool.' And I saw everybody smiling and I was just, like, 'Yeah, that's it.' And yeah, yeah, it really felt like I was part of the family forever."

The official KREATOR documentary, "Hate & Hope", was shown on July 2 at the 42nd Munich International Film Festival and received a theatrical premiere on September 4. The 110-minute film was directed by Cordula Kablitz-Post.

KREATOR played its first show with Leclercq in October 2019 in Santiago, Chile.

Before joining KREATOR, Leclercq rose to fame with U.K.-based extreme power metallers DRAGONFORCE for whom he handled bass duties from 2005 until August 2019.

As previously reported, Mille's official German-language autobiography, which he wrote with journalist, author and presenter Torsten Groß, "Your Heaven, My Hell - Mein Leben, Heavy Metal Und Wie Das Alles Passieren Konnte", was published on August 28 via Ullstein Verlag.