KREATOR

The historic German thrash metal band, founded in Essen in 1982, already has a date set to return to Portugal. The concert will be on December 16th, in Sala Tejo at MEO Arena, with “support” from nationals TOXIKULL and SACRED SIN. With a career spanning more than four decades, the legendary KREATOR maintains its position as one of the most influential and successful bands in the thrash phenomenon. Since they made themselves known in the early 80s, Mille Petrozza and company have always remained resilient and irreducibly faithful to their convictions, never giving up the fierce attitude that excited them as teenagers. Proving that dedication still pays off, they continue to draw thrash-hungry crowds around the world and, after the postponement of the show announced for June 15th due to technical problems, they return to Sala Tejo at the MEO Arena, in Lisbon, on 16th December 2024.

Representing two very different generations of national metal, TOXIKULL and SACRED SIN will perform at Sala Tejo before the German thrash legends take the stage. Since joining in 2016, TOXIKULL has gradually built its career in a very intelligent way and, since the release of the much applauded «Under The Southern Light», has established itself as one of the most solid proposals to come out of the Portuguese underground in recent years . Pioneers of death metal on Brazilian soil and with a solid trajectory that, at this point, has already surpassed the three-decade mark, SACRED SIN continues to be a true force of nature and, proving its relevance in the new millennium, signed one of the best albums Portuguese extreme metal songs of 2022 with the devastating «Storms Over The Dying World».

The tickets purchased for the show originally scheduled for June 15th 2024 are automatically valid for this new date.

Schedule
Doors open: 7.30pm
Beginning of the concert: 8.15pm

KREATOR BIOGRAPHY

Originally called Tyrant, and later Tormentor, KREATOR were founded in 1982 by vocalist/guitarist Mille Petrozza, bassist Rob Fioretti and drummer Jürgen Reil (better known as Ventor) in Essen, Germany. Their first two masters, entitled “Blitzkrieg” and “End Of The World”, reached thousands of heavy metal fans participating in the busy tape trading network of the time and the positive word of mouth attracted the attention of Noise Records, who signed a contract with the newly renamed KREATOR and immediately put them to work on their first album. Recorded in just ten days at Musiclab Studios in Berlin, the debut “Endless Pain” arrived in 1985 and, with its raw thrash, took the underground by storm. After a short tour, the musicians returned to the studio and, this time with producer Harris Johns, recorded their second LP, “Pleasure To Kill”.

Released in 1986 and considered the band's first “classic”, the record raised the bar with more diversity of tempos and greater attention to technical execution, without losing anything in terms of ferocity or speed. The band closed the year with the EP “Flag of Hate” and there was no doubt that, alongside Celtic Frost, KREATOR were fast becoming the main European contenders in extreme metal. Recorded at Horus Studios in the city of Hanover with English producer Roy Rowland, 1987's “Terrible Certainty” did nothing to diminish this perception, as for the first time Petrozza and co. had a little more time to work on the songs in advance. The subsequent tour further established the musicians' reputation as road warriors, saw them bolster their ranks with guitarist Jörge Trebziatowski and gave rise to yet another EP, entitled “Out Of The Dark, Into The Light”, released in August 1988.

At this point, all the signs suggested that KREATOR were about to take a big leap, and when Noise struck a deal with the giant Epic for large-scale distribution in the United States, Petrozza knew that this would be his best chance to take the band across the Atlantic. Gathering all his creative energies and honing his songwriting skills, he led the group to Music Grinder studios in Los Angeles and collaborated with producer Randy Burns to create “Extreme Aggression”, another milestone in thrash history.With clips of the title track and the venomous “Betrayer” receiving exposure at MTV's Headbangers Ball, the record ended up becoming the band's biggest commercial success to date, and the North American tour with Suicidal Tendencies, which marked the band's debut with guitarist Frank “Blackfire” Gosdzik, introduced them to a new audience.

Looking to capitalize on the moment, Noise rushed them back into the studio to create another album and “Coma Of Souls” was released in October 1990.Clearly more hastily conceived, the LP suffered from the less than favorable circumstances in which it was created and, at a time when thrash was already showing signs of fatigue, the standard-bearers of the trend were faced with a difficult choice: evolve or die. Released in 1992, the aptly titled “Renewal” took a proverbial step backwards and showed KREATOR experimenting with the brutality of death metal and the coldness of more extreme industrial music.The album's disappointing performance and exhausting live commitments left the musicians physically and creatively drained, leading Petrozza to announce an extended break to recuperate.

This silence was only broken three years later with 1995's Cause For Conflict.Far from being a successful return to their origins, the album once again showed a confused and uninspired KREATOR - out of step with the metal trends of the time and certainly traumatized by the departures of Fioretti and Ventor.

Trying to remedy this delicate situation, Petrozza called in Tommy Vetterli, former guitarist with the Swiss band Coroner, to help guide the collective into uncharted territory. “Outcast” and ‘Endorama’ showed them following slower rhythms and, moving further and further away from thrash, experimenting with gothic and even ambient elements. Although they received positive reviews and signaled Ventor's return, none of them managed to reignite the band's career.

After Vetterli's departure and the signing of a new contract with SPV, KREATOR finally began their rebirth.Petrozza recommitted himself to thrash and, after hiring Finnish guitarist Sami Yli-Sirnio, began writing their strongest LP in many years.“Violent Revolution”, from 2001, inspired the most comprehensive and extensive tour they had done to date and re-established the group as one of the leading names in thrash - a feat that was celebrated with ‘Live Kreation/Revisioned Glory’, their first live album. This was followed by the thematically similar “Enemy Of God” and the devastating “Hordes of Chaos”, from 2005 and 2009, respectively.In 2010, they signed with Nuclear Blast before embarking on a 25th anniversary tour of North America.

The first album released on the new label was 2012's “Phantom Antichrist”, which showed them in top form and achieved huge commercial success in Germany, reaching #5 in the sales charts - their best position yet in their home country.Hungry for the road, Mille and co. promoted the album with another tour, which culminated in an explosive sold-out show in Oberhausen in front of a packed audience of fervent fans, captured for future memory in “Dying Alive”. By then it was clear that there was still an audience for KREATOR, but their 14th studio album, “Gods Of Violence”, wouldn't be released until 2017, marking the end of the longest hiatus between recordings in the band's history.In 2022, “Hate Über Alles” was released, which hit the charts in more than a dozen countries and marked the band's debut with bassist Frédéric Leclercq.In 2023, the musicians joined Lamb of God on the single “State Of Unrest”, before kicking off a European tour of the same name.

 
Toxikull in the first part of Kreator

After two apotheotic concerts showcasing their new album “Under The Southern Light” in Lisbon and Porto, TOXIKULL will play the first part of KREATOR's long-awaited return to Portugal. With their highly acclaimed third album of originals proving to be a hit among the indefatigable of more traditional heavy metal, on June 15, the musicians led by the charismatic Lex Thunder take to the stage of the Sala Tejo at the MEO Arena, and join the legends of German thrash for a night of celebration of the eternal sound.

Since coming together in 2016, TOXIKULL have gradually built up their career in a very intelligent way. Fiercely embodying the DIY spirit, they have taken all the right steps, never bigger than their legs, and, as a result, today we can describe them as one of the most solid proposals to come out of the Portuguese underground.

In the aftermath of the pandemic, the musicians hit the road and built an even more solid reputation than before, mirrored in sublime fashion in “Under The Southern Light”, their third full-length record, which hit the shelves on February 23rd.

Crushing and intrepid, with a style influenced by what was being done in the mid/late 80s, TOXIKULL's return to publishing is a sincere (and very convincing) tribute to an era when heavy metal dominated both the radio and the arenas.

Pontos de Venda: 18 20 (24h); www.meoblueticket.pt; Lojas MEO; Lojas FNAC; Lojas WORTEN; Wook.pt; El Corte Inglés; ABEP; Bilheteira MEO Arena (em dias de evento na MEO Arena); Turismo de Lisboa; ACP; Lojas SaltPay; Campo Pequeno; IT Tabacarias; Turismo de Cascais; Multiusos de Guimarães; Altice Forum Braga