Dimmu Borgir and Kreator

Inspired by the likes of Black Sabbath, Metallica and Motorhead, the band took shape in 1982, with the original line up consisting of: Mille Petrozza (vocals, guitar), Jurgen “Ventor” Reil (drums) and Rob Fioretti (bass) firstly known as Tyrant and then Tormentor. The newly formed band released two demos “Blitzkrieg” in 1983 and “End of the World” in 1984.

In 1985, the band signed with the new German metal label Noise Records who encouraged the final name change and they settled on Kreator. It took them only ten days to record their debut album “Endless Pain” released later that year and created a huge buzz in the prominent underground metal scene emergent in Germany. With blistering and brutal thrash chords reverberating throughout the album, Kreator won an allegiance of fans. Promoting the album, the band added late Sodom guitarist Michael Wulf to play on the release tour.

In 1986 Kreator released their follow up album “Pleasure to Kill” which introduced the addition of guitarist Jorg ‘Tritze’ Trzebiatowski. The album considered a thrash classic demonstrated the band’s rapid progression of talent and technical ability, featuring the popular track “Flag of Hate” which made regular appearances on their live set lists. At the end of the year, the band released the three track EP “Flag of Hate”.

Releasing two albums and an EP between 1987-9, Kreator were given the opportunity to hop on tour with American thrash heavyweights Suicidal Tendencies on their North American tour which helped broaden the band’s appeal outside of Europe.

In 1989 the band featured in Thomas Schadt’s documentary “Thrash Altenessen” exploring the social effects of heavy metal in their local area. Following the release of their fourth album “Extreme Aggression”, Tritze departed in 2000 and was replaced by former Sodom guitarist Frank ‘Blackfire’ Gosdzik.

Whilst the 90’s became a pivotal point of genre experimentation for forerunners like Metallica and Anthrax in an attempt for commercial appeal, Kreator went against the grain delving deeper into death and industrial metal prominent in the 1992 album “Renewal”.

With a relentless touring schedule, it began to take a toll on the band as one by one they dropped out leaving Petrozza as the only original member. Fleeting member came and went and by the new millennia the line-up included: Christian ‘Speesy’ Giesler, Sami Yli-Sirnio and the return of Reil.

Over their extensive band history spanning decades, Kreator have become a beacon to many bands within the trash genre playing numerous festivals and sharing the stage with bands like: Napalm Death, Warbringer, King Diamond and Exodus. Kreator continue to provide electrifying, show-stopping performances ever enthused with an abundance of passion.

Originally comprised of vocalist Sylvain Houde, bassist Maurizio Iacono, guitarist Jean-Francois Dagenais, and drummer Areil Saied Martinez, the band has undergone a number of lineup changes of its history with Iacono and Dagenais remaining the only original members. Formed in 1991, Kataklysm’s early output was epitomised by the furiously-paced drum pattern dubbed “Northern Hyperblast”. The band’s debut arrived in February 2005 on Nuclear Blast Records and provided a clear sign of thing to come with themes of death, ghosts, god and devastation. The album was marked by the arrival of drummer Maz Duhamel, however due to injury, the record proved to be his last until 2000's "The Prophecy" with responsibilities going to Nick Miller in 1996.

Nick Miller’s debut with the band came the same year with the record “Temple of Knowledge”. However with the band’s impetus on intense drumming, following the album release Miller also departed from Kataklysm. A string of albums followed including “Victims of this Fallen World”, “The Prophecy (Stigmata of the Immaculate)”, and “Epic: The Poetry of War”, before the band released their most successful album to date “Shadows & Dust” in 2002. Garnering a wave of positive attention and their most significant sales figures to date, the record was marked by its melodic elements on top the death metal sensibilities.

Coupled with their popularity in the U.S. and Canada, Kataklysm have also enjoyed success in parts of mainland Europe including Germany, Switzerland, and Belgium. In 2004 the group issued their seventh studio album to date “Serenity in Fire”, which like its predecessors, was followed by an extensive worldwide tour to connect with international fans. Going from strength the strength, the record helped boost the band’s death metal profile and paved the way for the subsequent albums “In the Arms of Devastation”, “Prevail”, “Heaven’s Venom”, “Waiting For the End To Come”, and “Of Ghosts and Gods”.