Dan Marsicano: This is the band’s 25th anniversary tour. I know you haven’t been in the band the whole time, but can you believe that Kreator has been around that long?
Sami Yli-Sirniö: The singer/guitarist Mille and Ventor (drummer) have been there since the beginning, so they have been doing it for 25 years. I’ve been doing it for only about ten years. I don’t know who came up with the idea to do a 25th anniversary tour, but I guess you can celebrate it somehow.
What we did on our web site was that people could vote what older songs they wanted to hear from us and surprisingly, we got quite a few votes there. We decided to change the set and listen to the audience and what they would like to hear. We actually even rehearsed this time before the tour, can you imagine? (laughs) For me, it was funny because I’m not so familiar with the earlier stuff, so I had to look into YouTube to find the songs. It was so crazy; I found little 12 year olds with a webcam playing songs, so I went ‘oh, so that’s how it goes, great’ (laughs).
Were there any songs that gave you a lot of trouble?
Sami: Well, not really, but there are songs like “The Pestilence” with far too many riffs (laughs). It was just a question of remembering it and listening to it, but it was fun. I enjoyed it.
Were there any songs in particular that people were trying to get on the set that the band is excited about playing?
Sami: Well, number one was “When The Sun Burns Red” from the Coma of Souls album. That’s actually kind of a favorite of mine as well. That was fun; we’ve never played it before. What else was there? “Endless Pain,” which Ventor originally sang on the album, but for some reason he doesn’t want to sing it on the tour, so Mille is doing it now. It’s kind of a punk rock number from my point of view. So it’s nice for us because it’s a bit of a different set. To be honest, we played the same set for a little bit too long, so this is kind of fresh.
Tell me a little bit about this tour package. You got Evile, Voivod, and a whole bunch of other bands coming in. Are there any bands in particular you’re excited about?
Sami: I’ve been a Voivod fan for a long time. I really dig them and when we used to play a gig in Montreal, Snake always came around and they did a tour with us ages ago. I checked them out yesterday. They even did that Pink Floyd cover that I love.
So how do you feel about the current thrash scene, with bands like Lazarus A.D and Evile?
Sami: It’s nice that people do that kind of music. Last time, we were touring with Warbringer and they are an amazing band. They are constantly on tour; they probably don’t even have a home (laughs).
With the way the music industry is going, do you feel that it’s necessary for bands like Warbringer to have to tour all the time?
Sami: Sure, that’s the only way to make a living these days with music. Nobody buys CDs anyway; I don’t (laughs).
Is Kreator the same way? Do you guys feel you have to tour more?
Jürgen “Ventor” Reil: Tour more? It’s impossible to tour more than we do (laughs). We tour the whole world, so it’s constant. We have to find time to write new material sometime, so I think we tour enough.
Is there any place that you guys have been dying to play that you haven’t played yet?
Sami: Well, I remember there was an offer from South Africa. Somehow it didn’t work out, but I would like to go. If there are people that want to ask us to play a gig somewhere and pay at least some kind of a contribution, then sure, we'll go. We enjoy making music.
I know Hordes of Chaos came out just last year, but is the band already thinking about the new album?
Ventor: Thinking? Yeah.
Writing some riffs?
Ventor: No, not really (laughs).
Sami: No, not yet, but Mille was thinking of maybe using the same producer as we did last time (Moses Schneider). We were more or less forming live in the studio and it was a good experience for us and we were all happy with the results and maybe we want to do it again with him.
What does 2010 hold for the band?
Sami: Well, we have some festivals already lined up in Europe. After the US tour, we’re going to Portugal and a festival in Holland. There’s possibly a European tour coming up in the fall, maybe with Exodus. I’m not sure yet because we toured the states (with them) and they want to do it in Europe too.
If you could tour with one band, past or present, who would it be and why?
Sami: Well, if Pink Floyd would let us use their lights that would be nice (laughs).
Ventor: Rush because I could watch every night a great drummer and listen to perfect music and see a really good show.
