KREATOR Frontman On 'Gods Of Violence': 'We Needed To Come Up With An Album That Blows Everyone Away'

Metal Wani editor in chief Owais "Vitek" Nabi recently conducted an interview with guitarist/vocalist Mille Petrozza of German thrash metal veterans KREATOR. You can now listen to the chat below.

Speaking about the five-year gap between 2012's "Phantom Antichrist" album and the upcoming "Gods Of Violence", Mille said: "It didn't seem that long, to be honest, because we have been touring so much. And I think in order to come up with something relevant and something exciting, it's definitely important to take some time off, and hat's what we did. After the extensive touring cycle for 'Phantom Antichrist', we just took almost… not two years off — we played a couple of festivals — but, basically, we didn't do much in '15 and until now [in] '16; those two years were free of any long touring. And so, yeah, being able to do this was a luxury, but was also necessary in order to come up with something great."

Mille also talked about the songwriting process for "Gods Of Violence", explaining: "We just wanted to write new songs that are just, 'Wow!' I think that's basically what we had in mind. One thing that we were all conscious about was that we needed to come up with an album that blows everyone away. So whatever it takes, we do. That's the only conscious decision that we made — to come up with something exciting; that's the key."

Regarding KREATOR's decision to return to Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden to record "Gods Of Violence" with producer Jens Bogren (OPETH, AMON AMARTH, KATATONIA),Mille said: "It was fantastic. We had a great time. We knew the location, we knew the studio, and it was really cool. And it was summertime this time, so it was a lot easier, really. It was nice."

"Gods Of Violence" will be released on January 27, 2017 via Nuclear Blast Records. The cover artwork for the disc was created by renowned artist Jan Meininghaus, who also made the limited-edition artwork for KREATOR's last album, 2012's "Phantom Antichrist", and has lent his talents to bands like BOLT THROWER, ACCEPT and OVERKILL in the past.

The exclusive North American cover was created by renowned artist Marcelo Vasco, who has previously worked with SLAYER, MACHINE HEAD, SOULFLY and HATEBREED.

The track listing is as follows:

01. Apocalypticon
02. World War Now
03. Satan Is Real
04. Totalitarian Terror
05. Gods Of Violence
06. Army Of Storms
07. Hail To The Hordes
08. Lion With Eagle Wings
09. Fallen Brother
10. Side By Side
11. Death Becomes My Light

The video for the "Gods Of Violence" title track can be seen below. The clip was filmed with renowned video production company Grupa13, which has previously worked with AMON AMARTH, BEHEMOTH and ELUVEITIE.

Mille commented: "We have prepared an amazing video trilogy with Grupa13 for our new album. We believe that they are among the most creative artists when it comes to surreal video art. The storyline is linked to our album concept and the first clip visualizes the birth of the KREATOR demon."

Regarding the "Gods Of Violence" title track, Petrozza said: "'Gods Of Violence' was the first song I wrote for this album and it stuck to me as the title track. It contains everything KREATOR is known for and it will blow your minds. Promise!" He added about the album artwork: "The cover of is a perfect reflection of my lyrical vision. I think this is Jan Meininghaus's best work so far."

KREATOR will tour Europe in support of the new CD beginning in early February. Petrozza and his crew will be accompanied by a varied as well as iconic billing. Brazilian-American extreme metal pioneers SEPULTURA are direct support to the headliners, followed by visionary Swedish melodic death metallers SOILWORK and Belgium's finest death/grind outfit ABORTED.

North American cover (by Marcelo Vasco):

International cover (by Jan Meininghaus):