KREATOR Frontman Checks In From The Road

Guitarist/vocalist Mille Petrozza of German thrashers KREATOR has issued the following update:

"We're right in the middle of our world tour as I'm writing this from a hotel room in San Salvador.

"This tour has led us through Russia, China, Japan, Australia, Mexico, Guatemala and now El Salvador. It proves ones again that metal has become a worldwide phenomena! No matter what cultural or religious background, there is always a huge audience on this tour!

"I'm overwhelmed by the reaction of the crowd every night and even though we have a tough schedule and we all have been jetlagged a lot, this is one of the most fun tours I've ever been on!

"We've met up with EXODUS, who are with us on this South/Central American part of the tour and it's great to see them kill at every single show. This package is brutal, the fans are getting the full treatment — with EXODUS and KREATOR on one bill, this is a true night of violence!

"It was quite a bizarre bus trip coming from Guatemala into El Salvador, just looking out of the window as we rode through the jungle was very interesting and different from anything most of us have seen before.

"The San Salvadorian audience last night was one of the craziest ever and for both bands it was the first time in El Salvador — but hopefully not the last!

"We want to thank all of our amazing fans and the members of the 'Inner Circle' [KREATOR's official fan club] for coming to the shows all over the globe! We have twelve more shows coming up and I'm really looking forward to the concerts in Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Brazil!

"If you live close by, don't miss this! I'll check in another time towards the end to give you another impression of how this crazy world tour went."

KREATOR drummer Ventor (real name: Jürgen Reil) is sitting the band's current tour dates due to "some personal issues." Filling in for him between September 11 in Moscow, Russia and October 31 in Sao Paulo, Brazil is Marco Minnemann, who is best known for his stints in NECROPHAGIST, ILLOGICIST and EPHEL DUATH.

For a complete list of upcoming shows, go to this location.

Jürgen "Ventor" Reil recently opened a tattoo shop in Essen, Germany called Carnap Ink Corporation.

Some samples of Ventor's work can be found at this location.

For more information, visit www.cinkc.de.

KREATOR's new album, "Hordes Of Chaos", sold around 2,800 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 165 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD landed at No. 7 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.

The CD was released in three different versions. The jewel case edition includes the ten regular album songs, and the deluxe version features an additional bonus DVD with an atmospheric making-of in super-8 quality courtesy of a Berlin filmmaker. As a third option, the ultra-deluxe version comes with a t-shirt, a worthwhile photo book and an extended version of the bonus DVD, as well as the CD.

The "Hordes Of Chaos" artwork was created once again by Joachim Luetke. Luetke designed the artwork for KREATOR's last album, "Enemy Of God", as well as past releases from bands like DIMMU BORGIR, ARCH ENEMY and RAGE.