DVDs

DVD Review: Kreator

DVD: At the Pulse of Kapitulation
Label: SPV/Steamhammer

I am no fan of Kreator. I think I’ve made my point on 98% of metal bands, but I should explain a couple things. Back in Greece when I was growing up, punk and metal were separate: you were one or the other, there was no clear “acceptable” middle ground of compromise, like you have today. It’s around the same time when Kerrang! and Metal Hammer would never even consider covering anything punk-related (much less make some money off it like they do today) and punks would call anyone capable of playing more than 3 chords a “fag”. Those were simpler times. Despite this clear (and utterly oh-so-pointless) divide though, a few metal bands seemed to be accepted by the punk kids, notably Sepultura and Slayer, due to their (compatible) socio-political stance. Kreator was one of the bands that my metal friends unsuccessfully tried to get me into. The more extreme of them were all about the evil shit in Metal at the time; lots of pentagrams, goat-heads, burning crosses and an ephemeral interest in H.P. Lovecraft and J.R.R. Tolkien. Hanging out with them meant watching lots of video-tapes of local TV metal shows (Hakos LIVES!) with them trying to “win me over”.

‘At the Pulse of Kapitulation’ is essentially a DVD/CD re-issue of their 1990 ‘Live In East Berlin’ and 1991 ‘Hallucinative Comas’ videos. Both of the videos have been re-edited and had their sound quality improved and neatly packaged together on one convenient DVD. The included documentary ‘The Past and Now’ offers up a lot of insight on the circumstances and significance of the live show (which also featured Tankard, Coroner and Sabbat) in the newly-unified Germany. The documented 1990 show (also included as an audio CD) was the first major Metal show since the re-unification of Germany and probably the first time that East Berliners got to rock out without fear of the Stasi paying them a visit late at night. The stories told in the interviews with some of the people in the documentary help to convey the emotions of relief and ecstasy they must have felt back then during that show. It’s described as the feeling children get on Christmas Eve and the crowd-shots of the thousands of smiling mulleted thrashers certainly confirm this. The band’s live performance and interaction with the more-than-willing crowd further is simply the icing on the cake; over an hour of shredding riffs, a drum solo and epic singalongs. ‘Love Us Or Hate Us’, ‘Betrayer’ and ‘Tormentor’ are definite highlights in the show, which is comprised of songs from what I’d consider to be their thrashiest and rawest era.

The other portion of the DVD is the ‘Hallucinative Comas’ video from 1991. Unlike ‘Live in East Berlin’, this video was a concept-video and if you want to be cynical, you could call this an extended video-clip. ‘Comas’ is essentially a short slasher/horror film about a Dr. Wagner who experiences some violent hallucinations, with Kreator providing the soundtrack and articulation to his madness. The film reminds me a lot of the multitude of 1980s European productions, the sort of stuff Dario Argento and Fulci became famous for; demonic entities, gruesome (and unintentionally funny) splatter effects, beautiful (for the era) women and a sense of despair and defeat. Unfortunately though the horror film side of ‘Hallucinative Comas’ suffers a bit in trying to balance the focus between Kreator’s performance and the plot. It’s a further shame that they have not included any production notes, commentary or documentary, about the film like they did with the live portion of the DVD since you can tell that they put a lot of effort and creativity into this project.

So is this any good? You bet your ass it’s good! Anyone who owns the original tapes will definitely appreciate the re-edited versions (5.1 mix, improved picture quality, anyone?) and the limited (yet straight-to-the-point) bonus material. Even if you’re not into metal (like myself) and the dodgy haircuts or the drum solo (that actually rules) don’t do much for you, the sociologist and historian in you will find the context and circumstances of the live show interesting and the horror film fanatic will air-drum and head-bang along to the riffage/slasher combo of ‘Hallucinative Comas’. Next time I go hang out with my old friends from school, I’m taking this with me for a trip down memory lane, only this time I won’t be needing much convincing.

For fans of: Sodom, Destruction, Exodus
Band links = Kreator

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Tags: dvd, cd, kreator, at the pulse of kapitulation, review, album, exodus, sodom, thrash

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