Formation and early releases (1982–1987) The band was originally formed in 1982 as Metal Militia in
Essen, Germany, and then became Tyrant. Later they used the name Tormentor until 1984, when they changed to its current name Kreator. The original line-up featured lead vocalist and guitarist
Mille Petrozza, drummer
Jürgen "Ventor" Reil, and bassist Rob Fioretti. Kreator recorded their debut album,
Endless Pain (1985), in just ten days. It would not be until 31 years after its release that
Pleasure to Kill entered the German album charts. Kreator's first
EP,
Flag of Hate, was also released in 1986. The band would become a quartet with the addition of guitarist Jörg "Tritze" Trzebiatowski. The album featured another hit, "Behind the Mirror". The band's popularity continued growing and a music video for "Toxic Trace" received airplay on
MTV. They found enough time and money (coming from their concerts) to finance another EP,
Out of the Dark... Into the Light (1988). By this point, Kreator was headlining their own tours and playing at theaters and arenas with bands such as
Megadeth, Voivod,
Overkill,
D.R.I. and
Holy Terror. This, as well as playing with bands like
King Diamond,
Raven,
Coroner,
Suicidal Tendencies, Death, and
Sadus, greatly expanded their popularity outside of Germany. While reaching a newer audience, the band upset many longtime fans, accusing them of "
selling out". The line-up also underwent significant changes. Founding member Roberto Fioretti left after recording the album and was replaced by Andreas Herz. In 1994, Reil departed as well, leaving Petrozza the sole original band member. Reil was replaced by Joe Cangelosi while Herz left the same year and was replaced by Christian "Speesy" Giesler. During this time, Kreator had ended their tenure with Noise Records and signed with
GUN Records. The new line-up released the album
Cause for Conflict in 1995. The songs bore a heavy influence of such bands as
Pantera and
Machine Head, as well as a partial resemblance to
Renewal. Kreator continued to experiment, producing
Outcast (1997) and
Endorama (1999) with
ambient and
gothic influences and incorporating
samples and
loops. However, record sales went down, and by the end of the 1990s, the band had reached commercial and critical nadir. Despite that, Petrozza was quoted as stating: "For us, success doesn't define in record sales. So all our albums have been successful for us, because we've achieved what we were aiming for."
Return in style (2001–2009) in 2007 In 2001, with
Sami Yli-Sirniö replacing Tommy Vetterli on guitar, Kreator released their tenth studio album,
Violent Revolution, which saw the band return to its classic thrash metal style. Despite containing a lot of melodic and so-called "
Gothenburg metal" riffs,
Violent Revolution was praised highly by fans and critics alike and benefited from the 2000s thrash metal revival movement, led by
Overkill,
Slayer,
Megadeth,
Exodus and
Testament. The tour was extremely successful and introduced Kreator to a younger generation of metal fans. Yli-Sirniö, who lived in Germany, was known to be a good guitar player, so the band recruited him. They played
Wacken Open Air in 2002. A live album,
Live Kreation, and a live DVD,
Live Kreation: Revisioned Glory, were both released in 2003, and their eleventh studio album – emphasizing more on the Gothenburg influences –
Enemy of God was released in 2005. A special edition was re-released in 2006, called
Enemy of God: Revisited. In early 2006, Kreator toured North America with
Napalm Death,
A Perfect Murder, and The Undying. There was a joint headline European tour with
Celtic Frost in 2007 with support from
Watain. Kreator were slated to tour in 2008 with
King Diamond,
Leaves' Eyes, and
Cellador, but this tour was canceled due to back issues with
King Diamond. In March 2008, the
At the Pulse of Kapitulation DVD was released, featuring
Live in East Berlin and
Hallucinative Comas on one disc. Both had previously been available on VHS only and were long out of print. The band also began working on their twelfth full-length album in late 2007/early 2008, and began recording in July 2008. Recording for the album, titled
Hordes of Chaos, wrapped up in late August, with the album released in January 2009. On 23 January 2009, the band began their "Chaos Over Europe" tour in Tilburg (the Netherlands) with
Caliban,
Eluveitie and Emergency Gate as other acts. In April 2009, the band embarked on a North American headlining tour, co-headlined by
Exodus, and supported by
Belphegor,
Warbringer, and Epicurean. In late 2009, Reil was forced to sit out some tour dates due to personal issues, with
Marco Minnemann temporarily taking his place.
Phantom Antichrist and Gods of Violence (2010–2017) Kreator signed with
Nuclear Blast in early 2010, before embarking on a North American tour in March to celebrate their 25th anniversary. A European tour with
Exodus,
Death Angel and
Suicidal Angels, entitled Thrashfest, took place in late 2010. On 1 June 2012, they released their thirteenth studio album,
Phantom Antichrist. Kreator co-headlined a 23-date North American tour that fall with Nuclear Blast labelmates
Accept. Entitled the Teutonic Terror Attack 2012 tour, they were supported by
Swallow the Sun. Kreator performed alongside
Suidakra in
Bangalore on 16 June 2012. Kreator released a music video for "Civilization Collapse" on 28 November 2012. In a November 2013 interview, Mille Petrozza stated that Kreator would begin working on their fourteenth studio album after the
Phantom Antichrist tour for a 2016 release. However, Petrozza said that the album would not be released until 2017. On 30 August that year, they released a double live album called
Dying Alive. It contained 24 tracks recorded at Turbinehalle in Oberhausen, Germany. On 14 October 2016, it was announced that Kreator's fourteenth studio album would be called
Gods of Violence, and it was released on 27 January 2017. A music video for the album's title track was released on 18 November 2016.
Gods of Violence received generally positive reviews, and was their first album to reach number one on the German charts. To promote the album, Kreator embarked on a headlining European tour in February and March 2017, with support from
Sepultura,
Soilwork and
Aborted, and co-headlined the Decibel Magazine tour with
Obituary in March and April. In late April, the band announced an Australian tour with
Vader, which took place in September. They embarked on two tours in 2018: one in Europe with
Decapitated and
Dagoba in January, followed by a co-headlining North American tour with
Sabaton in February and March.
Split with Christian Giesler, Hate Über Alles and Krushers of the World (2018–present) , 2018 About three months after the release of
Gods of Violence, Petrozza mentioned the possibility of a follow-up album, saying, "Maybe we should work with a different producer. Maybe we should go to a different country to record the album. Maybe we should write a more metal or more full-on thrash metal. Whatever we feel, first and foremost, that is the most important thing. Time will tell." In a September 2017 interview with Australia's
Silver Tiger Media, Petrozza stated that Kreator could do another album after
Gods of Violence but "not yet." When asked in February 2018 about the band's future, Petrozza said, "I think we're gonna take next year off and write a new record. That's the plan at least. We'll see what happens. I don't put myself under pressure. Let's see how I feel after this tour, and if I have ideas for new music, I will book a studio and start working on demos as soon as I have the time. And then I'll come up with some new stuff." He told
Guitar Interactive magazine in July 2018 that Kreator would take 2019 off to focus on writing the new album, which was planned for release in the summer of 2020. Petrozza later stated their new album was not expected to be released until the summer of 2021. In early December, Kreator embarked on the European Apocalypse tour with
Dimmu Borgir,
Hatebreed and
Bloodbath. It was announced that the final concert of the European Apocalypse tour in London would be filmed and produced as a live DVD in 2019. Titled
London Apocalypticon - Live at the Roundhouse, this DVD was released on 14 February 2020. Kreator supported
Slayer on their
final world tour, appearing at the Santiago Gets Louder festival in Chile on 6 October 2019, along with
Anthrax and
Pentagram Chile. On 16 September 2019, it was announced that Christian "Speesy" Giesler had left Kreator after 25 years as their bassist, and was replaced by
Frédéric Leclercq, who had recently left
DragonForce. On 20 July 2020, Petrozza posted a picture of himself in the studio on his Instagram page, indicating that Kreator was working on their next album. Petrozza confirmed two months later that Kreator had been writing new material "in the last couple of months", and that he was recording vocals for the album. In a March 2021 interview, Petrozza revealed that Kreator was supposed to start recording their new album in February, but this plan was interrupted by the
COVID-19 pandemic. He went on to say that he wants "the album to come out and go on a world tour right afterwards", and revealed that Arthur Rizk would produce it. The band announced in September 2021 that they had begun recording the album at Hansa Tonstudio in
Berlin, Germany with Rizk. In December 2021, Petrozza announced on his Instagram page that their new album would be released in the summer of 2022, preceded by a "new single SOON!". On 4 February 2022, the band released the title track from
Hate Über Alles as the album's first single, and announced on the same day that the album would be released on 3 June. The release date was later pushed back to 10 June. A video for the second single from
Hate Über Alles, "Strongest of the Strong", was released on 8 April 2022, followed less than a month later by its third single "Midnight Sun". Kreator promoted
Hate Über Alles with a world tour, including supporting
Mercyful Fate on their first North American tour in over 20 years in late 2022, and touring Europe with
Lamb of God and
Municipal Waste during the winter of 2023. They also co-headlined the Klash of the Titans tour throughout the spring of 2023, first in Latin America with
Testament, and then in North America with
Sepultura, the latter supported by
Death Angel and
SpiritWorld. The band continued to tour in support of
Hate Über Alles throughout 2024, including touring Japan in January–February with
In Flames, co-headlining a North American tour with Testament in September–October (with
Possessed as the opening act), and co-headlining a European trek in November–December with Anthrax and support from Testament. They also headlined the Klash of the Ruhrpott festival at Amphitheater Gelsenkirchen in
Gelsenkirchen,
Germany on 20 July 2024, which saw all of the "
Big Teutonic Four" bands (Kreator,
Sodom,
Destruction and
Tankard) on stage together for the first time. Touring for
Hate Über Alles continued into 2025, with the band headlining the Demonic Summer tour with
Rotting Christ and
Warbringer. By October 2023, Kreator had begun working on new material for their sixteenth studio album, However, Petrozza later stated that it would not be released until 2026. In a June 2025 interview with
Loaded Radio, Leclercq confirmed that the band had been "putting the final touches to a new album that [would] be released sometime next year", and in the following month, guitarist
Sami Yli-Sirniö announced they were "waiting for the final mixes". The resulting album,
Krushers of the World, released on 16 January 2026. A documentary about the band,
Kreator – Hate & Hope, premiered on 2 July 2025 at the 42nd
Munich International Film Festival and received its worldwide release on 4 September. Kreator toured in support of
Krushers of the World during the winter and spring of 2026, first in Europe with
Carcass,
Exodus and
Nails, while the North America leg will include support from Carcass and Cold Steel. The latter tour will include stops at
Welcome to Rockville,
Sonic Temple and
Maryland Deathfest. ==Musical style and influences==