KREATOR's MILLE PETROZZA: 'It's Great To See People Back Together Celebrating Music'

In a new interview with the "Everblack" podcast, KREATOR frontman Mille Petrozza spoke about what it has been like for him and his bandmates to return to the live stage after being forced to take a nearly two-year break due to the pandemic. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think what we experienced now is something that we… for some reason, we felt very safe in the way things were going. We thought things wouldn't change, and all of sudden the pandemic hit. And we were all, like, 'What the fuck?' Especially artists that couldn't go out and play for the fans anymore. And it was kind of like a shock. Nobody knew how long it would take. And it's still kind of not gone, but things are getting better; the world is opening back up. We played a couple of shows, and it's great to see people back together celebrating music, because that's also a very, very important thing in our lives. I think it's definitely not healthy to not go to live concerts. I just went to see RAMMSTEIN yesterday, and it gives you so much — it gives you so much power, so much energy. And it's an essential part of life — in my life at least — and I think in a lot of our fans' lives, or most of our fans' lives as well. It's great to see things are finally coming back — slowly but surely."

KREATOR's fifteenth studio album, "Hate Über Alles", will be released on June 10 via Nuclear Blast. 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.

Regarding the "Hate Über Alles" album title, Petrozza previously said: "'Hate Über Alles' reflects the time we're living in. Everything is really loud and aggressive. The way we communicate has changed, thanks to social media. It causes a lot of imbalance. The world is in a state of disrepair. Life is not harmonic right now, it's disharmonic… that's where I was going with the title."

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.

Last year, Petrozza told the official podcast of Italy's Metalitalia.com about the musical direction of the band's new LP: "It's definitely different. It's hard for me to describe, but I think it's definitely more thrash again. It has a lot of melody, and it has a lot of traditional parts, and it has a lot of ingredients of the last four or five albums. But it also has some very old-school moments. I think it's definitely the next step."

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

In September 2020, KREATOR guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö described the sessions for the band's new album to Italy's Poisoned Rock as "a lot of fun," adding that the "mood" in the band "is great. And the general vibe and the atmosphere is very good," he said. "[These are] creative times for KREATOR at the moment."

In March 2020, KREATOR surprise-released a new single, "666 - World Divided". The song was produced by Andy Sneap and Markus Ganter and was recorded at Hansa Tonstudios.

The music video for "666 - World Divided" was created under the direction of Jörn Heitmann, who was responsible for the music videos for "Radio" and "Ausländer" by RAMMSTEIN.

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.

KREATOR's previously announced "State Of Unrest" European tour with LAMB OF GOD has been rescheduled for November/December 2022 in the wake of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

KREATOR released a new live set, "London Apocalypticon - Live At The Roundhouse", in February 2020 via Nuclear Blast. The effort was professionally filmed and recorded on December 16, 2018 at the Roundhouse in London, England.