KREATOR Frontman: 'It's Interesting And Scary To Look At The World Right Now'

Metal Mark of Ghost Cult magazine recently conducted an interview with guitarist/vocalist Mille Petrozza of German thrash metal veterans KREATOR. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Ghost Cult: Throughout the thirty years, you've seen the metal scene go through many trends, yet the band has stayed relevant amongst all of it. How do you best explain how you've accomplished that?

Mille: "That's a good question. I think it simply comes down to us trying to do our best at all times. Plus, we have to live up to our name. If you're in KREATOR, and you stop being creative, what's the point? That may sound kind of cheesy, but it's true. Either we live up to the name, and what it stands for, or there's no point for us to release any new music. Luckily, we've had the right members come in and out over the years to keep the creative juices flowing, and I feel like we are as strong as we've ever been right now. I feel like you can really hear that in the new record, and that makes it very special to me."

Ghost Cult: This new record ["Gods Of Violence"] comes out four years after "Phantom Antichrist" was released, and the response to that album was massive. Did that put any extra pressure on you guys when you began writing the new material?

Mille: "I would say it did, but in a good way. It gave us a healthy push to do our very best. I'll be honest, it was a real challenge to top that record, but I think we've done it. We knew how much fans enjoyed that record, so when we began writing the new music, we really wanted to give the fans something just as exciting, if not more, you know. I know a lot of bands write for themselves, as we do, but we really want to make sure the fans are happy as well. If it has the KREATOR name on it, it has to be something special."

Ghost Cult: As you always have, you guys released the two singles with videos, and they came out amazing. A lot of bands have lost faith in videos, yet you continue to put so much effort and time into each one. Why are they still so important to you?

Mille: "I love videos. I always have, and I always will. I think that it's a great way to support the music, and visually make it come to life. I know there aren't any outlets on television anymore, but YouTube is huge, and people still watch them, and it gets them talking. Some people love them, some don't. Either way, it brings up discussion, which is a good thing. We will continue to release videos for as long as we can. It's an important thing in KREATOR, and the two we've released so far came out spectacular."

Ghost Cult: The lyrics on this record focus a lot on the violence surrounding us, and it seems like every day we hear about another shooting, or terrorist attack. Humans are supposed to evolve, but it seems like we've been going backwards recently, and hate is leading the way.

Mille: "It's interesting and scary to look at the world right now. As you said, we hear about a new tragedy every day, and the ugliness seems to overthrow the beauty of this world. All we can do is stay optimistic and cherish the good times when they happen. I truly believe we will be okay, even in the confusing times we live in now. We just must stay positive and promote the beautiful things. For KREATOR, we promote our music, peace, and the idea of a healthy lifestyle. I think that's as much as we can do in a band. We have a voice, so we should use it for good things, and help people escape what's going on around them. I'm very proud to say that we've done that for over thirty years now."

Read the entire interview at Ghost Cult magazine.

North American cover (by Marcelo Vasco):

International cover (by Jan Meininghaus):