Kreator - Endorama review
| Band: | Kreator |
| Album: | Endorama |
| Style: | Gothic metal |
| Release date: | March 29, 1999 |
| Guest review by: | TerrorZone |
01. Golden Age
02. Endorama
03. Shadowland
04. The Chosen Few
05. Everlasting Flame
06. Passage To Babylon
07. Future King
08. Entry
09. Soul Eraser
10. Willing Spirit
11. Pandemonium
12. Tyranny
13. Children Of A Lesser God [Japanese bonus]
The follow up to Outcast which revealed gothic metal influences for the first time in Kreator's career, sees the band exploring further into the genre disregarding popular opinion. Endorama, the last of the "experimental" Kreator albums has in general been criticized as a worthless pop album or something similar by die-hard thrash metal fans. Although it is understandable to generalize this album in that manner, further research and analysis proved the case to be less exaggerating.
Musically the sound is without doubt the softest from a band that once unleashed their prowess upon the ears of metal fans with their first five brilliant albums. The riffs are replaced by more melodies which are certainly more comfortable to the mainstream audience than Kreator's loyal fans. The song structures are simple following the verse chorus pattern very consistently. Petrozza's lyrics deal with much less violent matters in comparison to their works from the 1980s but show a dark, negative and somewhat depressing theme throughout the songs.
The vocals of Mille Petrozza are performed with much more clarity switching between his barking and a much softer spoken style. This album sees former Coroner guitarist Tommy Vetterli contributing to a few songs unlike on the previous album on which he joined the band just before the recording process. This album also sees little of the technical ability of Vetterli's guitar playing as shown during his tenure in Coroner. However, his guitar work is done in a proficient manner for the type of music that this album presents. As for drumming, with Ventor behind the kit, this album does not demand as much from him as it could have all being performed by a drum machine.
With all honesty, the enjoyable songs total up to less than half the album. Highlights include "Golden Age" and "Shadowland" with its catchy melodies and excellent lead guitar work. The title track follows in the same vein as "Golden Age" although it may not be noticeable with the singer of Lacrimosa providing guest vocals. The piano introduces the song "Everlasting Flame" and the latter half of the album does not offer anything different or new from the songs stated. Due to this, the album inevitably fell victim to the repetitive use of the same song structure and less enjoyable and inspiring lyrics as the songs progress.
This album can be an enjoyable listen when in the mood for softer music but even if a listener was placed in that situation, he/she would find the album to be sleep provoking as songs on the latter part the album are less inspired musically than on the first half of the album. On the contrary, Kreator must be commended for their willingness to attempt something different despite their knowledge that it would prove to be unpopular. It also must be noted that without this album, the return-to-thrash-roots album Violent Revolution would have sounded much different as certain parts, such as a melodic and dark theme, do present themselves on that album with much more effect.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 6 |
| Originality: | 6 |
| Production: | 8 |
Written by TerrorZone | 27.01.2012
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Comments
Comments: 13
Visited by: 118 users
| KwonVerge Odysseus Elite Posts: 5068  |
Well-written review, but it's missing the most important part, the fact that Petrozza was deeply inspired by The Sisters Of Mercy and the whole goth rock scene at the time, something the album clearly depicts. If i recall well, in an interview at the time he even had mentioned Nick Cave (the nurse on the cover whispers it) among his favorite artists  A really hot name at the Central European scene, Tilo Wolff (Lacrimosa) even participated on the title-track. As for me, i pretty much enjoy this album for what it is, it might not be the Kreator everyone knew or expected, but it's an important yet underestimated act of how gothic metal should be (and by this i mean it has its roots in the 80s goth rock scene).
---- Dec. 30, 1334. ...And the whiskey and wine entered our veins when blood was too weak to carry on.
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| TerrorZone Posts: 36  |
Written by KwonVerge on 27.01.2012 at 11:57 I recall from reading an interview on the web that this album reflected dark and difficult times for Petrozza. Its always nice to have people appreciating the not so well regarded albums of Kreator, but for me its the 80s and post 2000s Kreator material.
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| KwonVerge Odysseus Elite Posts: 5068 |
From Kreator my favorite periods are the Extreme Aggression-Coma Of Souls one and the one starting from Outcast (which was pretty dark too at times). I still have to listen to Renewal and Cause For Conflict though
---- Dec. 30, 1334. ...And the whiskey and wine entered our veins when blood was too weak to carry on.
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| ravendeath Posts: 240  |
Written by KwonVerge on 27.01.2012 at 13:17 Renewal it's an amazing album, but like Endorama not really appreciated by their fans. It's very experimental one, maybe the most of their discography and like Petrozza said it's very "drug abuse" inspired 
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| RavenKing Posts: 1941  |
Written by ravendeath on 27.01.2012 at 20:44 It's indeed amazing how they could manage to suck so bad just after releasing a masterpiece like "Coma Of Souls".
---- They shake your hand and they smile and they buy you a drink They say we'll be your friends we'll stick with you till the end But everybody's only looking out for themselves And you say who can you trust I'll tell you nobody
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| RavenKing Posts: 1941 |
Written by KwonVerge on 27.01.2012 at 13:17 You would do yourself a favor by staying away from them.
---- They shake your hand and they smile and they buy you a drink They say we'll be your friends we'll stick with you till the end But everybody's only looking out for themselves And you say who can you trust I'll tell you nobody
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| ravendeath Posts: 240 |
Written by RavenKing on 28.01.2012 at 01:00 "Coma Of Souls" is for sure one of the highlights of their career, but "Renewal", I know... a lot of people hate it and you are one of them, nothing wrong with this...
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| Deadmeat Necrobutcher Posts: 2437  |
Written by KwonVerge on 27.01.2012 at 13:17 to differ from the others i'd suggest you to listen to those two albums and especially "renewal". it's VERY different. it's not a masterpiece but it has some nice moments/songs. it's their most experimental for sure. on the other hand "cause for conflict" is a pure thrash metal album, without VENTOR (so with different drumming), a lot of speed, and some nice songs on it. but when you want thrash you have Coma of Souls or Extreme Aggression. so "renewal" is mainly the one you should listen...
---- Υou've sold your human essence to the cold world of dead and empty things... You're SOLD!
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| Angelic Storm Melodious Posts: 6675  |
I personally don't share the reviewers' take on this album, nor the rating given to it. Although it is understandable why many would dislike the album when it is so markedly different musically from their earlier works. I have no personal aversion to the style of music on here though, so I find quite a lot to enjoy in this album, and Kreator did a fine job in crafting memorable songs in a style which is far removed from the one they are most renowned for playing, All in all, I do prefer their classic thrash albums, but for what it is, this is mostly a great body of work, and definitely an improvement over the mostly lacklustre previous album, "Outcast". Written by Deadmeat on 29.01.2012 at 04:53 I wouldn't call "Cause For Conflict" a pure thrash album by any means, although out of all their experimental works in the 90's, this album is the closest in style to their earlier thrash albums. I do agree that "Renewal", whilst not being a masterpiece, does contain some outstanding moments. Songs like the punishing "Zero To None", and the oppressive atmospherics of "Karmic Wheel" are truly great. xD
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| Deadmeat Necrobutcher Posts: 2437 |
Written by Angelic Storm on 29.01.2012 at 10:48 yeah! "zero to none, killing radical" i love this song! haha! about cause for conflict, it surely isn't the thrash side of kreator as we know it but i think that it is a thrash metal album just with some other influences too (atmospheric and heavy metal moments i would say-i have many years to listen to it though) when all the other experimental albums contain only a few thrash metal moments (renewal mainly).
---- Υou've sold your human essence to the cold world of dead and empty things... You're SOLD!
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| RavenKing Posts: 1941 |
Written by Angelic Storm on 29.01.2012 at 10:48 As far as I can remember (last time I listened to this album was over 15 years ago), this is not a pure Thrash album at all. At least it doesn't sound like what Kreator did in the 80s. It sounds much more modern in production and it has modern influences.
---- They shake your hand and they smile and they buy you a drink They say we'll be your friends we'll stick with you till the end But everybody's only looking out for themselves And you say who can you trust I'll tell you nobody
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| Angelic Storm Melodious Posts: 6675 |
Written by Deadmeat on 29.01.2012 at 13:21 I love it too! It's one of my fave Kreator songs, and it'd be awesome for them to play it live.  "Renewal" and "Cause For Conflict" both contain thrash elements, but neither are proper thrash albums. "Outcast" and "Endorama" had faint traces of thrash in a small amount of songs, but were mostly devoid of the style...Written by RavenKing on 29.01.2012 at 17:44 Yup, you're right. I did a review of this album on MS quite a while back saying exactly that. It has a modern sound and production, and also conatains experimental elements, as well as traces of the industrial style that was explored on "Renewal". But it is the most thrash orientated album from their experimental phase. But it's definitely not a pure thrash album, as their 80's albums (and "Coma Of Souls") were.
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| Deadmeat Necrobutcher Posts: 2437 |
Ok it's a fact that i had many years to listen to the album. i was wrong and it isn't a "pure" thr.m album. generally angelic storm and ravenking you both described it great! nothing more to add.
---- Υou've sold your human essence to the cold world of dead and empty things... You're SOLD!
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