Chad Bowar: What can Kreator fans expect from Hordes Of Chaos?
Mille Petrozza: They can expect a very heavy record with sheer Kreator brutality, nothing less. It’s a very heavy album with a lot of fast songs and brutal stuff. It picked up where Enemy Of God left off. It’s a progression, but we tried not to repeat ourselves. It’s the next logical step.
I understand you changed your recording process a bit for this album.
Yes. The basic tracks were all recorded in a live situation. We had the whole band in one room recording drums, both guitars and bass at the same time. We didn’t do overdubs to fix things afterwards. We left it like it was and tried to play as close to perfect as possible with the energy of a live show. For us this time it was more about the vibe and the emotion than perfection. It gives the listener a clue to what the band sounds like live, rather than a perfect polished studio production.
So many productions are cut and paste and very sterile sounding. It’s nice to hear someone getting back to the old school way of doing things.
That’s what we had in mind, and I think we achieved that with Hordes Of Chaos.
How did you decide on Moses Schneider to produce the album?
He has produced a lot of pretty cool German bands that in America nobody probably knows. His sound is very unique. When we first heard Moses wanted to record the album live, we were skeptical and didn’t know what to expect. He told us we were a great band and just to be self-confident and try it. If it doesn’t work we’ll go back to the way that you’re used to. We felt comfortable after the first couple of rehearsals with him.
What did Colin Richardson’s mixing add to the final product?
He’s one of the best guys when it comes to mixing metal records. He’s the man. He gave us this huge sound for the stuff we recorded and made it sound like a metal monster.
What inspired your lyrics for Hordes Of Chaos?
A lot of things. Of course we have the typical Kreator topics. The title track is how we see the state of the world at this point in time, everyone against everyone. That sums up how we see the world now. “Amok Run” is about this kid that ran amok in America. I quoted some of the things he said on YouTube, so the lyrics and the music perfectly blend together. Other than that, there have been some riots in Paris two years ago that inspired the songs “Radical Resistance.” The lyrics are definitely about living in an age of chaos and dealing with it.
Did you write the song “Hordes Of Chaos” and then decide to name the album after it, or did you have a title first?
I had the title first. I was looking for a title that was catchy, and that people can remember. It can be seen as a tribute to our fans. If you think about it we have hordes of supporters worldwide that really support the band and have been with us. That’s a great thing. We wrote all the songs on the album for our fans. We wrote the songs to play them live. All the songs are made for a live situation.
It’s been a couple of years since you’ve played in the United States and you’re coming back in April. Are you looking forward to that?
We’re really looking forward to it. It’s been too long. We’re really excited. We’re playing all over the place. It’s going to be a great tour. We’ll be out with our friends from Exodus.
Tell me about the stage set that you’re developing for the tour.
What we’ve done over here in Europe was having video screens showing scenes of the band past and present. We want to bring that to the U.S. We want to give the fans not only a sonic, but also a visual experience of the band. We designed a stage that is based on the cover of Hordes Of Chaos. You can see the hordes of chaos on the stage. While we’re playing in the middle you can see the videos in the background. It’s going to support the music and add something to the whole thing.
