KREATOR Is Using Coronavirus Downtime To ‘Reinvent’ Itself On Next Studio Album

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KREATOR guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö has confirmed to Italy's Poisoned Rock webzine that the band has entered a studio in Essen, Germany to begin writing, arranging and recording demos for its next album. The follow-up to 2017's "Gods Of Violence" will mark KREATOR's first album with bassist Frédéric Leclercq, who joined the group last year. Yli-Sirniö described the sessions for the new LP 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 (see video below). "[These are] creative times for KREATOR at the moment." Speaking about the KREATOR songwriting process, Sami said: "The main composer for KREATOR is for sure Mille [Petrozza, guitar/vocals]. And then he likes to send us some demos over. But then we all arrange them together and bring new ideas to it and try to enhance them and sometimes bring our own ideas, of course, as well. That's what we're doing right now, and just try to make the best possible result imaginable, because we really want to work hard on the next album." On the topic of KREATOR's musical evolution, Yli-Sirniö said: "I like to think that there's a progression all the time and we're always looking for something new. That's always what you become most afraid of, with an older band like us, after doing so many albums together — is to find a new angle and a new perspective for every album. And that is the difficult part, but it's also the challenging part and the part that I like the most. And now that we have a new member in the band, Fred, he brings a lot of new ideas and a different angle, and it's fantastic. He's also an amazing guitar player." According to Sami, there is no set release date for KREATOR's new album, which is not expected to arrive before next summer at the earliest. "I wish that the time tables would be more clear, because of these COVID times and so on, but it's also giving us a chance to reinvent ourselves and make the best music possible and give it all we've got," he said. This past March, 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 last October 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 via Nuclear Blast. The effort was professionally filmed and recorded on December 16, 2018 at the Roundhouse in London, England.