Teutonic thrash legends, KREATOR, have been waving the flag of hate for nearly two decades now. Although the band took an strange turn with the somewhat odd Endorama album (in which the band thought it would be a good idea to collaborate goth band, LACRIMOSA, as well as rip off MOTLEY CRÜE’s Dr. Feelgood and MEGADETH’s “Symphony of Destruction”), they quickly recovered with Violent Revolution, which saw the band returning to the complex thrash of the Coma of Souls-era. Enemy of God is even heavier than its predecessor and the band makes that known from the opening title track until the last notes of “The Ancient Plague.” It’s all here, blazing guitar riffs, rippin’ solos, and pounding double-bass drumming all delivered with the skill of veterans of the scene with the youthful enthusiasm of men half their age. There are very few quiet moments on the Enemy of God, save for two intros that are quickly forgotten as soon as the band kicks in. Anyone who fears that KREATOR may have softened with age need only to check the song titles as songs six through ten, which feature the following words in them: dead, murder, death, evil and dying (not the cheeriest of subject matter). There’s a lot of hype over “the new wave of American thrash metal,” but those youngsters could learn a thing or ten from both KREATOR and Enemy of God. No mosh, no nü, no death, no core, just fast and furious, no frills blistering thrash from one of the genres leading heavyweights. (SPV Records)