KREATOR Frontman On Thrash Metal Band Reunions: 'Some Of 'Em Should Just Stay Where They Were'

Terrorizer magazine's Jenn Selby conducted an interview with guitarist/vocalist Mille Petrozza of German thrash metallers KREATOR at this year's Metalcamp festival, which was held on July 2-8, 2009 in Tolmin, Slovenia. Watch the chat below.

Regarding KREATOR's longevity and the increase in the number of '80s and '90s thrash metal bands who are reuniting for another shot at success, Mille said, "To be honest with you, I'm not too excited about all these bands from the '80s coming back. I think some of 'em should just stay where they were. I will not mention any names because that would not be fair. But I think there are some bands that were not necessary even back in the day coming back now, and it's even less necessary — in my opinion. I hope they at least come up with some good music. Some of the reunions, to me, made total sense. For example, when DEATH ANGEL came back, that was a great thing. When EXODUS came back, it was amazing. Some bands just never disappeared, like KREATOR, and I think people appreciate that. They see that we just endured the tough times in the '90s when nobody really gave a fuck about any thrash bands. So we just kept playing, we stayed on the road, we kept touring, released albums, and I think people nowadays know that we never disappeared; we were always there. But, on the other band, we don't have the 'OK, they do a reunion now' — we don't have that bonus — but we've always been there. Which is, I think, a good thing, because I wouldn't have known what to do without music. I mean, that's all I know. When I started this band, I was, like, 15 years old. So, I mean, what am I gonna do now?! [Laughs] There's no turning back for me."

In other news, KREATOR will embark on a headlining tour of Australia in September. Confirmed dates are as follows:

Sep. 23 - Billboard The Venue - Melbourne
Sep. 24 - Metro Theatre - Sydney
Sep. 25 - The Hi Fi - Brisbane
Sep. 27 - HQ Adelaide
Sep. 29 - Metro Freo - Perth

Tickets go on sale on July 31.

KREATOR will take part in the "Thrash Domination 09" tour of Japan in September with TESTAMENT, EXODUS and HEATHEN.

The band'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.