Interview by Kris Peters
After blind-siding the whole country last week with the announcement of Machine Head and Fear Factory heading Down Under early next year for a dream double header, Nuclear Blast Records have done it again, this time throwing In Flames and Kreator into the ring as a touring duo.
Dubbed Klash Of The Titans, these two heavyweights will unite for a co-headlining tour in February 2024, marking Kreator's first trip to this country since 2017.
It is a match forged from the fiery depths of the Metal God's own battleaxe and promises to leave a sonic trail of mayhem and destruction across the land.
HEAVY caught up with Kreator singer/guitarist Mille Petrozza on the eve of the tour announcement to get his thoughts.
"Thanks for having us," he quipped when we thanked him and the band for booking the run of shows. "For us Australia is always special. It's on the other side of the world and for bands like us, we have been coming to Australia since 1993, and it's always a blast. We always have an amazing time. The fans are amazing, and we are really looking forward to this tour."
Not that they need a reason, but we asked Petrozza why In Flames were chosen as touring partners.
"We have this Klash Of The Titans here with Sepultura and Testament in South America and North America in the past, and we were thinking about doing an additional tour for Australia," he offered. "So we asked In Flames because they are friends of ours, and they were like 'yeah, let's do this! It's gonna be two full headlining shows as a co-headlining bill. Both bands are gonna play 100% of headlining shows, and it's gonna be good. You get the full double treatment."
This will be Kreator's first trek to this side of the world in six years, so we ask Petrozza what has changed with the band in that time.
"We had the pandemic," he sighed, "and that kept us from coming back and kept us from releasing our album a year earlier. It was written already in 2020, and we waited until 2022 to release the album… So it was basically the pandemic that kept us from coming to Australia earlier. Since nobody was able to tour, but now this horrible pandemic is in the past, and we are able to come back."
We ask Petrozza what fans can expect from the shows.
"(laughs) It's gonna be a nice mix between the 2000s material of Kreator and ancient stuff from the 80s," he revealed. "We have a nice set list. We're gonna play some of our new album and I think there's gonna be something for everyone. Of course, we'll bring some production, and it's gonna be a good show. I think people will definitely be able to enjoy a great night of metal."
In the full interview, Mille runs through the touring schedule in more detail, takes us back to the start of Kreator and the musical landscape that gave birth to the band, their early vision and how it has changed, how their sound has changed over the course of their career, his view on modern metal, his top three commandments of metal and more.