Pleasure to Kill


Pleasure to Kill is the second studio album by German thrash metal band Kreator, released in November 1986 by Noise Records. Pleasure to Kill is widely considered a thrash metal classic, as well as a landmark album in the history of thrash metal along with Master of Puppets by Metallica, Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? by Megadeth, Reign in Blood by Slayer, Eternal Devastation by Destruction and Darkness Descends by Dark Angel, all released in 1986. The album played a considerable role in the development of many extreme metal subgenres, and death metal bands such as Cannibal Corpse cite the album as an influence. The lyrical themes follow those found on their first album Endless Pain, containing descriptions of macabre scenes of death and horror. Just like that album and Terrible Certainty, Kreator were mostly a three-piece band during the recording of Pleasure to Kill; on some early pressings, guitarist Michael Wulf, who was briefly a member of Kreator, was erroneously credited as a band member in the liner notes.

Reception

Reception

writer Jason Anderson gave the album a rating of four stars out of five, and wrote, "Many in the underground metal scene were already paying special attention to the German outfit's proto-death sound, but the cult status was shed after this critically and commercially successful second effort hit record-store shelves. As fierce and unyielding as the group's debut, Endless Pain, was, Pleasure to Kill provides double the sonic carnage and superior material."

Commercial performance

Coinciding with the 2017 remastered issue, Pleasure to Kill charted for the first time 31 years after its release, and peaked at number 99 on the German Charts. The remastered edition of the band's 1989 album Extreme Aggression charted on the same day.

Legacy and awards

Pleasure to Kill was ranked at number four on Loudwire's top ten list of "Thrash Albums NOT Released by the Big 4".

Track listing

Personnel

;Kreator
;Production

Trivia