KREATOR's MILLE PETROZZA 'Would Be Bored' If He Had To Make 'A Thrash Metal Album From Beginning To The End': 'It Wouldn't Come From The Heart'

In a new interview with Jorge Botas of Portugal's Metal Global, Mille Petrozza of German/Finnish/French thrash metal veterans KREATOR spoke about the band's sixteenth studio album, "Krushers Of The World", which came out on January 16, 2026 via Nuclear Blast Records. The LP was recorded at Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden with producer Jens Bogren. Bogren previously helmed KREATOR's "Phantom Antichrist" (2012) and "Gods Of Violence" (2017) LPs. The "Krushers Of The World" cover artwork was created by Polish genius Zbigniew Bielak (GHOST).

Mille said about the songwriting process for "Krushers Of The World" (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "I was collecting [ideas for] a long time. I think I started the demos in 2024, in the beginning or summer of 2024, and I was done with the demos in April 2025. And that's when I showed my songs to the band. They hadn't heard anything before that, and they were, like, 'Oh, this is quick.' But I wanted to avoid the fact that on [2022's] 'Hate Über Alles' album, we had the pandemic, so we had to shut down everything and we had all the songs ready for a year and we couldn't release it because we were not allowed to go on tour. So therefore I wanted to avoid the situation where we live with the songs too long and I wanted to keep it fresh. So I played the songs to my band in April and we went into the recording studio in May. So we had five weeks of rehearsals and then went straight into the studio, so it's all fresh. So for them it was all like new stuff, and everybody was contributing. And I really like the results."

After Botas noted that "Krushers Of The World" isn't just a straight-ahead thrash metal album all the way through, Mille concurred. "I love metal. I love thrash metal. I love death metal. I love black metal. I love all kinds of metal, but I also love all kinds of music," Petrozza explained. "So, to me, playing metal, being in a metal band, I always try to come up with a way where I can kind of be metal and be KREATOR, but also put in influences from other genres and maybe different grooves, different vibes, rather than just releasing a thrash metal album from beginning to the end. I mean, we could do this — potentially, yes — but we would be bored and it wouldn't come from the heart. And I think sometimes when you listen to some of the records that are coming out, it's, like, sometimes people are forcing the old school, they're forcing everything to sound like in the '80s. But we're not in the '80s; it's the '80s. We can still have influences from the '80s and we are a band that started in the '80s, but for me personally, I would feel very underwhelmed if we would have to do an album that's just thrash from the beginning to the end. It's just me. And if you listen to our previous albums, it's never like that. It's always been a little bit of a balance."

Mille went on to say that he understands why some fans want their favorite bands to rehash the sound material that they wrote during their "golden" years. "I get it from an emotional point of view, because when you're into music and you're a music nerd, it's all emotion, it's all waves and it's all beautiful harmonies and beats and the unity and everything that metal is about," he said. "And it's beautiful. It's amazing. But the old days are over. We're never gonna get that back. And when you go to a KREATOR concert or maybe some other bands, metal bands, that are around still from the '80s, you get that back for a little bit when the old bands play older music or older songs. You get that back for a while. But trying to force whatever people are happy with — but I'm not; I just couldn't do it… But I kind of get when there's surprisingly a young audience that is trying to make the older bands — they want the older bands to sound like the '80s. But I'm the same way. If I'm going to see FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM or THE SISTERS OF MERCY, I want them, of course, to play the old songs. But don't mind the new songs. I'm also open [to hearing the] new songs."

KREATOR released several singles from "Krushers Of The World", including "Seven Serpents", "Tränenpalast" and "Satanic Anarchy".

"Tränenpalast" features vocal coach Britta Görtz of extreme metal band HIRAES on guest vocals.

KREATOR will promote "Krushers Of The World" with a monumental European tour across 20 countries, joining forces with fellow metal powerhouses CARCASS, EXODUS and NAILS. The trek will kick off on March 20, 2026 in Lisbon, Portugal, at MEO Arena and wrap up on April 25, 2026 in Copenhagen, Denmark, at Poolen. Highlights include shows in London, Manchester, Glasgow, Paris, Milan, Berlin, Stockholm, and more.

KREATOR will also embark on a U.S. tour this spring. The band, which last conquered American audiences and venues in 2024, will embark on a headline tour in 2026, with stops at key festivals, including Welcome To Rockville, Sonic Temple and Maryland Deathfest. The tour kicks off on May 7 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and runs through May 23 in Huntington, New York.

The official KREATOR documentary, "Hate & Hope", was shown on July 2, 2025 at the 42nd Munich International Film Festival and received a theatrical premiere on September 4, 2025. The 110-minute film was directed by Cordula Kablitz-Post.

Mille's official German-language autobiography, which he wrote with journalist, author and presenter Torsten Groß, "Your Heaven, My Hell - Mein Leben, Heavy Metal Und Wie Das Alles Passieren Konnte", was published on August 28, 2025 via Ullstein Verlag.

Photo credit: Robert Eikelpoth