Review Summary: Kreator are alive again!
After 1990's Coma of Souls album, German thrash metal band Kreator started experimenting with the death/industrial metal genres, and after two poorly received albums Kreator gave their sound a new approach, a mixture of thrash/gothic and industrial metal.
The band began to slowly return to their thrash metal style on albums such as 2001's Violent Revolution and 2005's Enemy of God, but still had that slight remnant of industrial metal added in the musical style.
The first album to feature returning drummer Jurgen 'Ventor' Reil (who left the band in 1994), Outcast was produced by Vincent Wojno (Impaled, Dublin Death Patrol) and the band themselves and also was the debut to feature ex-Coroner guitarist Tommy Vetterli.
The recording was released in July 1997 under G.U.N. Records named as Outcast, another unsuccessful and underrated album to both fans and critics, it received poor and average reviews.
With thirteen songs and a total timing of forty-seven and a half minutes, Outcast is not an over-all superb or perfect album, but it does have what most thrash and / or industrial fans expect. It's got power, it's got heavy riffs, it has great lyrics, it has a great production and sound quality and it has a talented and aggressive performance.
With songs including "Leave this World Behind", having a solid and talented performance as well as other tracks like "Phobia", "Enemy Unseen", "Alive Again" and the finish-off track "A Better Tomorrow" containing catchy and powerful riffs and also have a great beginning on each of them songs.
As well as this, there is a fair bit of great writing skills including lyrics on the song "Alive Again" spitting out the words, "Overreaction, and you've lost your path/Faceless and hateful, emotional psychopath/Overreaction, and now you're not the same" and other lyrics like "Overreaction, search for what you need/Cause for conflict, schizophrenic personality" witch is simple but very talented and makes sense.
Overall, Outcast is a classic album in the industrial/thrash metal genres, and is mind-blowing, underrated, understanding and fun-filled with total chaos! I highly recommend this album to a fan of mid-era Sodom, late-Destruction and later Kreator!
Though every song is not perfect, it still is a recommended album for fans of those as said!
Hate becomes alive AGAIN!
Recommended tracks:
- Phobia
- Forever
- Enemy Unseen
- Alive Again
PROS:
- Perfect production
- A solid and catchy performance
- Good-written lyrics
- An interesting album for Kreator newcomers
CONS:
- Some songs can be found a bit boring
- The riffs can get a little too much for newcomers
