kreator / albums

For all of their commendable achievements in establishing a vibrant European heavy metal scene during the 1980s, Noise Records had an irritating habit of spreading out their bands' creative output into a maximum number of often shortened releases, many confusingly running longer than an EP and shorter than an LP proper. German speed metal legends Kreator were among the label's few major acts to be spared such shoddy treatment, as, for the most part, when they released an album, it was an album, and when they released an EP, it was a friggin' EP -- which brings us to this friggin' EP: 1986's fan favorite Flag of Hate. Anchored by the fast 'n' furious title track -- originally cut on Kreator's primitive first LP of a few years earlier and a perennial concert encore for years to come -- Flag of Hate also boast two more drawn out, complex thrashers in "Take their Lives" and "Awakening of the Gods." None of these would have sounded out of place on the band's recently released Pleasure to Kill opus, and their inclusion on most reissued CD versions of that album therefore makes perfect sense. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia, All Music Guide