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Pleasure to Kill

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Pleasure to Kill
Studio album by
Kreator
ReleasedNovember 1986
Recorded1986
StudioMusiclab (Berlin)
GenreThrash metal
Length38:42
LabelNoise
ProducerHarris Johns, Ralf Hubert
Kreator chronology
Endless Pain
(1985) 		Pleasure to Kill
(1986) 		Flag of Hate
(1986)

Pleasure to Kill is the second studio album by German thrash metal band Kreator, released in November 1986 by Noise Records.[1]

Background

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Pleasure to Kill is widely considered a landmark thrash metal classic,[1][2][3][4] along with Master of Puppets by Metallica, Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? by Megadeth, Reign in Blood by Slayer, Eternal Devastation by Destruction and Darkness Descends by Dark Angel, all released in 1986.[5] The album played a considerable role in the development of many extreme metal subgenres, and death metal bands such as Cannibal Corpse cite the album as an influence.[6][5][7]

The lyrical themes follow those found on their first album Endless Pain, containing descriptions of macabre scenes of death and horror. Just like that album, Kreator were a three-piece band during the recording of Pleasure to Kill; on some early pressings, guitarist Michael Wulf, who was briefly a member of Kreator, was erroneously credited as a band member in the liner notes.[1]

Reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal6/10[9]
Metal Hammer (GER)5/7[10]
Rock Hard8.0/10[11]

In a contemporary review, Oliver Klemm of the German Metal Hammer called Kreator "the best death metal band in Europe after Celtic Frost" and described the album as obviously inspired by Possessed's Seven Churches, but "even louder, even faster, even more brutal".[10] Rock Hard reviewer found the album very similar to Endless Pain and, despite the opaque drum sound, quite good by hardcore standards.[11]

In a modern review, AllMusic writer Jason Anderson wrote that "many in the underground metal scene were already paying special attention to the German outfit's proto-death sound, but the cult status was shed after this critically and commercially successful second effort hit record-store shelves. As fierce and unyielding as the group's debut, Endless Pain, was, Pleasure to Kill provides double the sonic carnage and superior material."[8] Canadian journalist Martin Popoff acknowledged the importance of the album in "propelling the band into the trinity of the genre next to Destruction and Sodom", but was not very pleased by the "tech-thrash ugliness" of the music.[9]

Commercial performance

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Coinciding with the 2017 remastered issue, Pleasure to Kill charted for the first time 31 years after its release, and peaked at number 99 on the German album charts. The remastered edition of the band's 1989 album Extreme Aggression charted on the same day.[12]

Accolades

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Pleasure to Kill was ranked at number four on Loudwire's top ten list of "Thrash Albums NOT Released by the Big 4".[13]

Legacy

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  • In the German Netflix series Dark, character Ulrich Nielsen is a fan of Kreator as a teenager, the lyric 'My only aim is to take many lives / The more, the better I feel' from the title track "Pleasure to Kill" leading police officer Egon Tiedemann to suspect Ulrich may be a Satanist.
  • Pleasure To Kill had impact on the extreme metal scenes to follow. Petrozza told author Jon Wiederhorn in 2010, “And yeah, it probably is one of the essential records for the death metal movement. A lot of black metal bands even say that Pleasure to Kill is one of their main influences.”[14]
  • The song "Awakening of the Gods" appeared in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned in the radio station Liberty City Hardcore.[15]

Track listings

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All tracks are written by Mille Petrozza, except where noted

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)VocalsLength
1."Choir of the Damned" (instrumental)  1:39
2."Ripping Corpse" Petrozza3:36
3."Death Is Your Saviour"Jürgen Reil, Petrozza, Roberto FiorettiReil3:58
4."Pleasure to Kill" Petrozza4:11
5."Riot of Violence"Reil, PetrozzaReil4:56
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)VocalsLength
6."The Pestilence" Petrozza6:58
7."Carrion"Reil, Petrozza, FiorettiPetrozza4:48
8."Command of the Blade"Reil, PetrozzaReil3:57
9."Under the Guillotine" Petrozza4:38
2017 re-release: Flag of Hate EP bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
10."Flag of Hate"Reil, Petrozza, Fioretti3:56
11."Take Their Lives" 6:26
12."Awakening of the Gods" 7:32
After the Attack – 1987 vinyl limited edition
No.TitleLength
1."Choir of the Damned"1:39
2."Ripping Corpse"3:36
3."Death is Your Saviour"3:58
4."Pleasure to Kill"4:11
5."Riot of Violence"4:56
6."After the Attack" (bonus track)3:43
7."The Pestilence"6:58
8."Carrion"4:48
9."Command of the Blade"3:57
10."Under the Guillotine"4:38
Total length:42:24
1991 Japanese reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
11."Flag of Hate" (taken from Flag of Hate EP)3:55
12."Take Their Lives" (taken from Flag of Hate EP)6:27
13."Awakening of the Gods" (taken from Flag of Hate EP)7:30
14."Endless Pain" (taken from Endless Pain)3:22
15."Tormentor" (taken from Endless Pain)2:52
16."Total Death" (taken from Endless Pain)3:26
Total length:66:13

Personnel

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Kreator
  • Mille Petrozza – guitars, vocals (2, 4, 6, 7, 9)
  • Rob Fioretti – bass
  • Ventor – drums, vocals (3, 5, 8)
Production
  • Harris Johns – producer, engineer
  • Ralf Hubert – producer
  • Maren Layout – design
  • Fred Baumgart, Kreator – photography
  • Phil Lawvere – cover artwork
  • Mille Petrozza – remastering
  • Karl-Ulrich Walterbach – executive producer
2017 re-release
  • Andy Pearce, Matt Wortham – mastering
  • Thomas Ewerhard, Jan Meininghaus – art, design
  • Malcolm Dome – sleeve notes

Charts

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Chart (2017) Peak
position
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[16] 99

References

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  1. ^ a b c Wiederhorn, Jon (1 November 2021). "35 years ago: Kreator push the limits of thrash with 'Pleasure to Kill'". Loudwire.
  2. ^ Blackmore, Ken. "Review of Pleasure to Kill". Sorted Magazine. Retrieved 26 March 2007.
  3. ^ "HailMetal.com's Top 50 Thrash Albums of All Time". HailMetal.com. 2006. Archived from the original on 7 May 2007. Retrieved 26 March 2007.
  4. ^ Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Kreator Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 March 2007.
  5. ^ a b "The History of Thrash Metal". Metal and Horror Movies. Archived from the original on 28 April 2007. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
  6. ^ "CD Gallery - Kreator". No Life 'til Metal. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
  7. ^ Lee, Cosmo (2 January 2007) [2006]. "Interview with Cannibal Corpse". Invisible Oranges. Archived from the original on 3 July 2007. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
  8. ^ a b Anderson, Jason. "Pleasure to Kill - Kreator". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
  9. ^ a b Popoff, Martin (1 November 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 190. ISBN 978-1-89-495931-5.
  10. ^ a b Klemm, Oliver (April 1986). "Kreator - Pleasure to Kill". Metal Hammer (in German). Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  11. ^ a b Stratmann, Holger (1986). "Review Album : Kreator - Pleasure to Kill". Rock Hard (in German). No. 16. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  12. ^ "Kreator > Longplay-Chartverfolgung" (in German). PhonoNet. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  13. ^ "Top 10 Thrash Albums NOT Released by the Big 4". Loudwire.com. 8 October 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  14. ^ "37 Years Ago: Kreator Push Limits With 'Pleasure to Kill'". Loudwire.com. 1 November 2023. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  15. ^ "GRAND THEFT AUTO IV - The Lost and Damned - Music: Soundtrack, Radio, Songs". www.gta4.net. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  16. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Kreator – Pleasure to Kill" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
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