Endless Pain in the first album from the German Thrash Metal band Kreator. The band itself is not a new acquaintance to be, but I have very few reference point in their early material. Not do I own any of the first few albums. Luckily there are streaming services. That goes against everything I believe in when it comes to physical media of course. But beggars can’t be choosers. And besides, I don’t really practice what I preach, I stream a LOT of music.
Both guitarist Mille Petrozza and drummer Jürgen Reil contributes lead vocals on Endless pain. I think it’s quite uncommon that the drummer also handles lead vocals duties. There are other examples of this but it’s not in the same courtyard as have to guitarist or bassist double their duties. I’m not sure who sings what but I can clearly hear that there are two different voices there. Well, sing, might be an overstatement. Let’s say “the deliverance of the lyrics”. Rob Fioretti handles the bass and all three member are credited with all song writing credits.
Endless Pain sounds a but “thin” in it’s sound. Not uncommon for a Metal album in 1985. But as many debut albums, the genuine energy is something that stands out. It’s fast Thrash most of the time. Maybe not as complex or complicated as some other thrash albums out there. But on the other hand Thrash Metal was hardly a thing yet in 1985. What would lay down the blueprint for Thrash – Master of Puppets by Metallica was still a year away.
As a first effort this is really good. Obviously they recorded demos and stuff before this release but I don’t think you really should count them in. Of course demos gives you some experience and all that stuff, but I can imagine that recording a demo is something completely different from laying the foundation for another fifteen albums or so.
