KREATOR Frontman Names Producer For New Album, Says LP Won’t Be Released Before Tour

BLABBERMOUTH.NET

KREATOR guitarist/vocalist Mille Petrozza spoke to the official podcast of Italy's Metalitalia.com about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the follow-up to 2017's "Gods Of Violence" album. He said (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Last summer, in August, we felt that we were done [writing], and we were very enthusiastic about, like, 'Okay, this is almost an album. We have 12 songs. And we take the 10 best, or whatever we come up with.' And we already planned on going into the studio in February. Now it's February, and the world is still kind of fucked with the COVID. So we have to wait and be patient. "I want the album to come out and go on a world tour right afterwards," he explained. "I don't see us putting out a COVID album, or something, and just have it [disappear]. And people go, like, 'Okay, there was an album. Okay, they have a new album or not? Am I going to this tour or not?' "I know that the world is changing — albums don't have the importance that they might have had 10 years ago anymore — but I refuse to believe that. Especially in metal, there's still a lot of people that celebrate an album from the beginning to the end. And I think the last genre of music where this is gonna die will be metal, because people really love albums. "I think going on a tour, the artwork, everything has to connect," Mille added. "So we'll wait until that's possible again, and then we'll put out the album." On the topic of the musical direction of the new KREATOR material, Mille said: "It's definitely different. It's hard for me to describe, but I think it's definitely more thrash again. It has a lot of melody, and it has a lot of traditional parts, and it has a lot of ingredients of the last four or five albums. But it also has some very old-school moments. I think it's definitely the next step." Asked if KREATOR will once again work with producer Jens Bogren, who helmed "Gods Of Violence" and 2012's "Phantom Antichrist", Mille said: "At this point, it looks like we're working with Arthur Rizk [CAVALERA CONSPIRACY, CODE ORANGE, POWER TRIP]. That's what we have planned at this point. And I'm kind of exchanging demo tapes and discussing recording techniques [with him]. So, yeah, it looks like we're working with Arthur." KREATOR's next album will mark the band's first with bassist Frédéric Leclercq, who joined the group in 2019. Last September, KREATOR guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö described the sessions for the band's new album to Italy's Poisoned Rock as "a lot of fun," adding that the "mood" in the band "is great. And the general vibe and the atmosphere is very good," he said. "[These are] creative times for KREATOR at the moment." In March 2020, KREATOR surprise-released a new single, "666 - World Divided". The song was produced by Andy Sneap and Markus Ganter and was recorded at Hansa Tonstudios in Berlin, Germany. The music video for "666 - World Divided" was created under the direction of Jörn Heitmann, who was responsible for the music videos for "Radio" and "Ausländer" by RAMMSTEIN. KREATOR played its first show with Leclercq in October 2019 in Santiago, Chile. Before joining KREATOR, Leclercq rose to fame with U.K.-based extreme power metallers DRAGONFORCE for whom he handled bass duties from 2005 until August 2019. KREATOR's previously announced "State Of Unrest" European tour with LAMB OF GOD has been rescheduled for 2021 in the wake of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. KREATOR released a new live set, "London Apocalypticon - Live At The Roundhouse", in February 2020 via Nuclear Blast. The effort was professionally filmed and recorded on December 16, 2018 at the Roundhouse in London, England.