Gods of Violence

Gods of Violence is the fourteenth studio album by German thrash metal band Kreator, released on 27 January 2017. This is Kreator's final studio album with bassist Christian "Speesy" Giesler before his departure from the band in 2019.

Background
It was the band's first studio album in almost five years since 2012's Phantom Antichrist, marking the longest gap between two studio albums, until Hate Über Alles broke this record in 2022. A music video for the album's title track was released on 18 November 2016. Special editions of the album were released with a bonus Blu-ray/DVD of Kreator's performance at Wacken 2014.

Reception
Gods of Violence received positive reviews upon its release. Writing for All About the Rock, Fraser Wilson said: "With this record, Kreator have created a slab of truly eviscerating aural perfection. Thrash may have been born in San Francisco's Bay Area, but it was perfected in Essen."

Gods of Violence debuted at number one on the German charts, making it Kreator's first number one debut in their 32-year recording career. The album won a 2017 Metal Storm Award for Best Thrash Metal Album.

Credits
Writing, performance and production credits are adapted from the album liner notes.


 * Kreator
 * Mille Petrozza – vocals, guitars
 * Sami Yli-Sirniö – guitars
 * Christian Giesler – bass
 * Ventor – drums


 * Additional musicians
 * Boris Pfeiffer (In Extremo) – bagpipes on "Hails to the Hordes"
 * Tekla-Li Wadensten – harp; intro piece on "Gods of Violence"
 * Dagobert Jäger – German vocals on "Fallen Brother"


 * Choir
 * Ronny Milianowicz
 * Björn Kromm
 * Frederik Eriksson
 * Henrik Andersoon
 * Mattias Lövdahl
 * Lars Höjer
 * Jens Bogren


 * Arrangements
 * Kreator – arrangement
 * Francesco Paoli – orchestral arrangement
 * Francesco Ferrini – orchestral arrangement


 * Production
 * Jens Bogren – production, recording, mixing
 * David Castillo – additional engineering
 * Erik Mjörnell – additional engineering
 * Christoffer Wadensten – engineering (harp only)
 * Ronny Milianowicz – recording (choir only)
 * Ludwig Näsvall – drumtech
 * Urban Näsvall – drumtech
 * Linus Corneliusson – mixing assistance, editing
 * Tony Lindgren – mastering
 * Olman Viper – mastering
 * Marc Görtz (Caliban) – pre-production
 * Dominic Paraskevopoulos – Pre-production


 * Studios
 * Fascination Street Studios, Sweden – production, recording, mixing, mastering
 * Studio Seven, Örebro, Sweden – recording (choir only)
 * Nemesis Studios, Germany – pre-production
 * Level 3 – pre-production
 * Hertzwerk, Hamburg, Germany – mastering