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Kreator - Endorama (1999)

The Metal Advisor

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The Metal Advisor

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It would be nice to see some love for this album other than the little bit I've given it. :D ------------- It's always puzzled me how much hate Kreator's Endorama gets. I won't argue that it wasn't a complete change in style from their normal, revered material. In fact, nearly all '90s era Kreator experimented with different sounds, and largely deviated away from thrash metal roots. Sometimes experimentation can be a success, though most of time it results in an outrage of sorts from fans (see Morbid Angel's newest record for an example of a failure). For the most part, I view Kreator's various sound changes as a victory, particularly this album. It's safe to say Endorama is a hook-filled journey through the realms of hard rock, skillfully infused with gothic influences. The album does have at least two metal tracks called "Shadowland" and "Soul Eraser," but that's the closest you're going to get to a thrash metal sound. Endorama marked the return of Ventor who was responsible for bashing the skins on the band's deservedly labeled golden age material, so a good majority of Kreator's fans were hoping for a true return to form. Well, crap. I guess I just answered my own question there. Silly me, that's why some fans dislike it so much. Anyway, the hooks scattered throughout this album are quite sublime and really aren't characteristic of Kreator in any way, shape, or form. You're not going to find aggressive chorus lines and verses here, but rather (dare I say) pop-influenced catchiness that's just downright infectious. You shouldn't fret though, as this isn't outright pop; it merely rivals the genre in memorability and sensibility. The usual Kreator fan will likely argue Endorama is watered-down comparative to Terrible Certainty, Coma of Souls, Pleasure to Kill, and other fabulous work from the German thrashers. However, in typical fashion, I'd like to counter that. It's perfectly acceptable to conclude the music on this record is generally more simplistic in nature, but to discard it on a level of "Oh, well this isn't as fast" or "This doesn't have any double bass" is pretty darn laughable, not to mention unfair. And yes, according to my recollection I have seen those used as "arguments." In any case, this album isn't the slightest watered-down in the area of song writing. It's actually really tough to write a decent hook, let alone one that has the sensibility of pop, and then shoehorn it into a metal song. As a general rule of thumb, metal fused with pop is pretty crappy and usually not really metal in any sense either. Taking a listen to Endorama, you'll find this record isn't even trying to be metal, which is a huge plus in my book. There are some very nice guitar solos littered across the album's landscape as well, so we clearly haven't lost anything there. Ventor's drumming is toned down and more subdued, a total surprise to me, and Mile's vocals are often whispered, at times closer to actual singing as opposed to his normal bark. I suppose Kreator does have a softer, welcoming side. We just don't get to see it much. It would be travesty for me to hide the fact that this is one of my favorite Kreator albums. No, I'm not an older, been-there-since-the-band's-inception devotee, but I do indeed favor the quartet's golden age material over the experimentation period (1992 - 1999) and modern age albums (2001 and on) just like those fans. If this record didn't have the Kreator moniker on the cover, I'm willing to bet people would be all over it, metal fans or not. Now here's an idea: how about we give it the attention it deserves? Just make sure you delve into this album with an open mind. This is still Kreator, albeit a wee bit different. -TMA See the original post @ The Metal Advisor with my favorite track "Tyranny" here: http://metaladvisor.blogspot.com/2011/08/why-you-hatin-bro-tma-takes-look-at.html

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ReturntoCarthage Newbie

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Re: Kreator - Endorama (1999) Kreator have always been one of my favorite bands and it doesn't bother me too much that they experimented, because the quality of the music didn't suffer, as they still kept it intense and powerful as always. I like some of the songs off of Endorama though I have to disagree when you say their latter albums suck, au contraire, only Hordes of chaos sucked :D

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