KREATOR's MILLE PETROZZA Doesn't Believe Grunge Was Responsible For Killing Metal In Early 1990s

In a new interview with Kahler Guitar And Bass Bridges, guitarist/vocalist Miland "Mille" Petrozza of German thrash metal veterans KREATOR spoke about how he and his bandmates survived the 1990s, widely considered the decade that forced thrash to go underground or die. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We were all terrified at the time. I mean, it's not that I thought it was over. I remember in the '90s, I tried to sell one of my Jacksons at the time. Nobody wanted to buy it. [Laughs] Everybody wanted Les Paul or Fender, like a traditional…"

He continued: "I'm so happy that the '90s are over. There's certain metal bands that always go, 'Grunge killed metal.' I don't think so. I think what killed it was maybe certain people in the industry that didn't want metal to be there anymore. And nowadays with everything being more global through the Internet though, through your own social media, you can do so much more.

"We still need some of the industry, of course, and nowadays people who are working in record companies are metalheads," Mille explained. "Back then there was mostly businessmen that didn't really know about music unless it sold a lot of copies. So nowadays it's a lot cooler because the scene created itself. There's people working in the industry that actually love the music, and you don't have to rely on people that just love whatever sells the most."

Petrozza previously spoke about grunge's impact on the metal scene in a 2013 interview with DeadRhetoric.com. He said at the time: "Some people said it was the grunge phase that killed it all, but I don't think it was only that. I think some metal bands were mistaken for the glam stuff. Like the real metal bands were labeled with the idiots that were around at the end of the '80s that made metal look bad. In my opinion, that's what they did. A lot of the glam stupidity took people off of metal. I think it has to do with the MTV era. Most of it here in America was the POISON, RATT, WHITESNAKE, then you had your one spot of SLAYER, EXODUS and KREATOR. It was mostly that and people would think, 'This is metal.' They want their glam stuff. I didn't listen to it, and I didn't want to have anything to do with it."

A couple of years ago, Mille told Metal Hammer magazine that he felt restricted by the confines of thrash during the 1990s. "We saw potential in experimenting and adding new influences," he explained. "I wouldn't say we outgrew thrash metal, but I got tired of being labelled. You've got to understand, at the time there were so many shitty thrash bands jumping on the bandwagon. It was so trendy, I was bored by it."

Regarding the challenges he and his KREATOR bandmates faced during the 1990s, Mille said: "People were thinking, was this thrash thing just a phase? I always took it seriously, I never thought of quitting, but the world around me fell apart; lots of bands split up. Grunge was coming in, being a metalhead wasn't in fashion. I saw a lot of bullshit in the '90s. MTV still had a huge influence, the industry was dictating the musical taste of the people, but some bands kept fighting."

KREATOR and TESTAMENT have joined forces for the North American leg of the "Klash Of The Titans" tour. The 33-date trek kicked off on September 12 in Reno, making its way across the U.S. and including seven Canadian dates before concluding in San Francisco on October 27. Joining the night are special guests San Francisco Bay Area death metal pioneers POSSESSED.

KREATOR is continuing to tour in support of its fifteenth studio album, "Hate Über Alles", which was released in June 2022. The follow-up to 2017's "Gods Of Violence" was recorded at Hansa Tonstudio in Berlin, Germany. Helming the sessions was Arthur Rizk, who has previously worked with CAVALERA CONSPIRACY, CODE ORANGE, POWER TRIP and SOULFLY, among others.

The "Hate Über Alles" cover artwork was created by Eliran Kantor, who has previously worked with HATEBREED, SOULFLY, TESTAMENT, ICED EARTH and SODOM, among others.

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

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.