Pleasure to Kill

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}} {{Infobox album | name = Pleasure to Kill | type = studio | artist = Kreator | cover = Pleasure To Kill.jpg | alt = | released = November 1986 | recorded = 1986 | studio = Musiclab (Berlin) | genre = {{hlist|Thrash metal|death metal}} | length = {{Duration|m=38|s=42}} | label = Noise | producer = Harris Johns, Ralf Hubert | prev_title = Endless Pain | prev_year = 1985 | next_title = Flag of Hate | next_year = 1986 }}

'''''Pleasure to Kill''''' is the second studio album by German thrash metal band Kreator, released in November 1986 by Noise Records.<ref name="loudwire">{{cite news |url=https://loudwire.com/kreator-pleasure-to-kill-anniversary/ |title= 35 years ago: Kreator push the limits of thrash with 'Pleasure to Kill' |first=Jon |last=Wiederhorn |date=1 November 2021 |website= Loudwire}}</ref>

It is considered an essential release in the thrash metal genre.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Staff |first=Revolver |title=25 Essential Thrash Albums |url=https://www.revolvermag.com/music/25-essential-thrash-albums/ |access-date=2026-02-04 |website=Revolver |language=en-US}}</ref> The album remains popular among collectors of physical media.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-07-17 |title=The Album by 11 Big Thrash Metal Bands That Fans Collect the Most |url=https://loudwire.com/most-collected-thrash-metal-albums-discogs/ |access-date=2026-02-05 |website=Loudwire |language=en}}</ref>

==Background and recording == ''Pleasure to Kill'' was produced by Harris Johns, who had previously worked with bands such as Helloween. Vocalist-guitarist Mille Petrozza said: "The situation was better than on the first album. The producer for that one, Horst Müller, wasn't interested in us. Even when we fucked up, he said, 'Yeah, it's fine!' [...] Basically, [Johns] made a good recording and he made us perform the songs in multiple takes. We had two weeks to do it, with three or four days for the drums and overdubs. It was really professional."<ref>{{Cite web |last=McIverpublished |first=Joel |date=2025-06-28 |title=" The English press used to call us 'hate metal'. It fit the music": How Kreator made Pleasure To Kill, the vicious 80s classic that put German thrash on the map |url=https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/kreator-pleasure-to-kill-story-behind-album |access-date=2025-08-30 |website=Louder |language=en}}</ref>

== Music and lyrics == Musical influences on Pleasure to Kill include Hirax, Sepultura, Possessed, and Death. Vocalist-guitarist Mille Petrozza recalled the creative process: "We were young kids full of enthusiasm. Kids who wanted to sound like the bands they listened to. We were tape traders: we’d listen to all kinds of stuff from the metal underground – We just wanted to be part of that scene, and when I listen to ''Pleasure To Kill'' now, that’s what I hear."<ref name=":0" />

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, Kreator were 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.<ref name="loudwire" />

== Reception and legacy == {{Album ratings | rev1 = AllMusic | rev1Score ={{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="allmusic review">{{cite web |title=Pleasure to Kill - Kreator |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=pleasure-to-kill-mw0000219972|pure_url=yes}} |publisher=AllMusic |accessdate=14 December 2010 |author=Anderson, Jason}}</ref> | rev2 = ''Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal'' | rev2Score = 6/10<ref name="martin" >{{cite book | last1 = Popoff | first1 = Martin | author-link1 = Martin Popoff | title = The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties | publisher = Collector's Guide Publishing | date = 1 November 2005 | location = Burlington, Ontario, Canada | isbn = 978-1-89-495931-5 | page= 190}}</ref> |rev3 = ''Metal Hammer'' (GER) |rev3score = 5/7<ref name="Hammer">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.metal-hammer.de/reviews/kreator-pleasure-of-kill/|title= Kreator - Pleasure to Kill |language=German |last=Klemm |first=Oliver |magazine=Metal Hammer |date=April 1986|accessdate=28 August 2022}}</ref> |rev4 = ''Rock Hard'' |rev4score = 8.0/10<ref name="rockhard">{{cite magazine|last=Stratmann|first=Holger|title=Review Album : Kreator - Pleasure to Kill|url=https://www.rockhard.de/reviews/kreator-pleasure-to-kill_189963.html|issue=16|year=1986| magazine = Rock Hard |accessdate=28 August 2022 | language=German}}</ref> }} ''Pleasure to Kill'' is widely considered a landmark thrash metal classic,<ref name="loudwire" /><ref name="sorted magazine">{{cite web |author=Blackmore, Ken |title=Review of ''Pleasure to Kill'' |url=http://sortedmagazine.com/Distorted.php3?nID=354 |accessdate=26 March 2007 |publisher=Sorted Magazine}}</ref><ref name="hailmetal.com">{{cite web |year=2006 |title=HailMetal.com's Top 50 Thrash Albums of All Time |url=http://www.hailmetal.com/gate.html?name=BestOfThrash |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070507000841/http://www.hailmetal.com/gate.html?name=BestOfThrash |archive-date=7 May 2007 |accessdate=26 March 2007 |publisher=HailMetal.com}}</ref><ref name="allmusic bio">{{cite web |author=Rivadavia, Eduardo |title=Kreator Biography |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=kreator-mn0000103324|pure_url=yes}} |accessdate=26 March 2007 |publisher=AllMusic}}</ref> 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.<ref name="history">{{cite web |title=The History of Thrash Metal |url=http://www.metalandhorrormovies.com/Bands/Trashhiseng.htm |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070428140706/http://www.metalandhorrormovies.com/Bands/Trashhiseng.htm |archivedate=28 April 2007 |accessdate=7 December 2011 |publisher=Metal and Horror Movies}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |title=CD Gallery - Kreator |url=http://www.nolifetilmetal.com/kreator.htm |accessdate=7 December 2011 |publisher=No Life 'til Metal}}</ref><ref name="history" /><ref>{{cite web |last=Lee |first=Cosmo |date=January 2, 2007 |orig-date=2006 |title=Interview with Cannibal Corpse |url=https://www.invisibleoranges.com/cannibal-corpse-interview/ |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703180313/http://invisibleoranges.com/interviews/cannibalcorpse.html |archivedate=3 July 2007 |accessdate=7 December 2011 |website=Invisible Oranges}}</ref> Mille Petrozza said: "Those kids are influenced by what we’ve done in the past, but it’s all great! If they’re discovering what we did 20 years ago, it’s like a manifesto for what this whole scene is about. Metal should be about saying, ‘Fuck you and everybody else – I’m going to do my thing!"<ref name=":0" />

In a contemporary review, Oliver Klemm of the German ''Metal Hammer'' called Kreator "the best death metal band in Europe after Celtic Frost" and described the album as obviously inspired by Possessed's ''Seven Churches'', but "even louder, even faster, even more brutal".<ref name="Hammer" /> ''Rock Hard'' reviewer found the album very similar to ''Endless Pain'' and, despite the opaque drum sound, quite good by hardcore standards.<ref name="rockhard" /> In a modern review, AllMusic writer Jason Anderson wrote that "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."<ref name="allmusic review" /> Canadian journalist Martin Popoff acknowledged the importance of the album in "propelling the band into the trinity of the genre next to Destruction and Sodom", but was not very pleased by the "tech-thrash ugliness" of the music.<ref name="martin"/>

''Pleasure to Kill'' had impact on the extreme metal scenes to follow. Petrozza told author Jon Wiederhorn in 2010, “And yeah, it probably is one of the essential records for the death metal movement. A lot of black metal bands even say that ''Pleasure to Kill'' is one of their main influences.”<ref>{{cite web |date=1 November 2023 |title=37 Years Ago: Kreator Push Limits With 'Pleasure to Kill' |url=https://loudwire.com/kreator-pleasure-to-kill-anniversary/ |accessdate=19 May 2024 |publisher=Loudwire.com}}</ref> In the German Netflix series ''Dark'', character Ulrich Nielsen is a fan of Kreator as a teenager, the lyric '''My only aim is to take many lives / The more, the better I feel''<nowiki/>' from the title track "Pleasure to Kill" leading police officer Egon Tiedemann to suspect Ulrich may be a Satanist.{{Citation needed|date=December 2025}}

In 2025, Joel McIver of ''Metal Hammer'' said the album "proved that America didn't have the monopoly on thrash."<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=McIverpublished |first=Joel |date=2025-06-28 |title="The English press used to call us 'hate metal'. It fit the music': How Kreator made Pleasure To Kill, the vicious 80s classic that put German thrash on the map |url=https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/kreator-pleasure-to-kill-story-behind-album |access-date=2025-08-30 |website=Louder |language=en}}</ref>

== 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 album charts. The remastered edition of the band's 1989 album ''Extreme Aggression'' charted on the same day.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/Kreator/longplay|title=Kreator > Longplay-Chartverfolgung|publisher=PhonoNet|language=German|accessdate=9 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308142606/http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/Kreator/longplay|archive-date=8 March 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Accolades=== ''Pleasure to Kill'' was ranked at number four on ''Loudwire''{{'}}s top ten list of "Thrash Albums NOT Released by the Big 4".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://loudwire.com/top-10-thrash-albums-not-released-by-the-big-4/ |title=Top 10 Thrash Albums NOT Released by the Big 4 |publisher=Loudwire.com |date=8 October 2015 |accessdate=4 September 2019}}</ref>

== In popular culture == The song "Awakening of the Gods" appeared in the video game ''Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned'' in the radio station Liberty City Hardcore.<ref>{{Cite web |title=GRAND THEFT AUTO IV - The Lost and Damned - Music: Soundtrack, Radio, Songs |url=https://www.gta4.net/lost-and-damned/music.php |access-date=2024-09-06 |website=www.gta4.net}}</ref> The album's material has also made appearances in the Netflix series ''Dark''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Staff |first=Revolver |title=25 Essential Thrash Albums |url=https://www.revolvermag.com/music/25-essential-thrash-albums/ |access-date=2026-02-05 |website=Revolver |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Track listings== {{Track listing | headline = Side one | all_writing = Mille Petrozza, except where noted | extra_column = Vocals | title1 = Choir of the Damned | note1 = instrumental | length1 = 1:39 | title2 = Ripping Corpse | length2 = 3:36 | extra2 = Petrozza | title3 = Death Is Your Saviour | length3 = 3:58 | writer3 = Jürgen Reil, Petrozza, Roberto Fioretti | extra3 = Reil | title4 = Pleasure to Kill | length4 = 4:11 | extra4 = Petrozza | title5 = Riot of Violence | length5 = 4:56 | writer5 = Reil, Petrozza | extra5 = Reil }} {{Track listing | headline = Side two | extra_column = Vocals | title6 = The Pestilence | length6 = 6:58 | extra6 = Petrozza | title7 = Carrion | length7 = 4:48 | writer7 = Reil, Petrozza, Fioretti | extra7 = Petrozza | title8 = Command of the Blade | length8 = 3:57 | writer8 = Reil, Petrozza | extra8 = Reil | title9 = Under the Guillotine | length9 = 4:38 | extra9 = Petrozza | total_length = 38:42 }}

{{Track listing | headline = 2017 re-release: ''Flag of Hate'' EP bonus tracks | title10 = Flag of Hate | writer10 = Reil, Petrozza, Fioretti | length10 = 3:56 | title11 = Take Their Lives | length11 = 6:26 | title12 = Awakening of the Gods | length12 = 7:32 }}

{{Track listing | headline = ''After the Attack'' – 1987 vinyl limited edition | total_length = 42:24 | title1 = Choir of the Damned | length1 = 1:39 | title2 = Ripping Corpse | length2 = 3:36 | title3 = Death is Your Saviour | length3 = 3:58 | title4 = Pleasure to Kill | length4 = 4:11 | title5 = Riot of Violence | length5 = 4:56 | title6 = After the Attack | note6 = bonus track | length6 = 3:43 | title7 = The Pestilence | length7 = 6:58 | title8 = Carrion | length8 = 4:48 | title9 = Command of the Blade | length9 = 3:57 | title10 = Under the Guillotine | length10 = 4:38 }}

{{Track listing | headline = 1991 Japanese reissue bonus tracks | total_length = 66:13 | title11 = Flag of Hate | note11 = taken from ''Flag of Hate'' EP | length11 = 3:55 | title12 = Take Their Lives | note12 = taken from ''Flag of Hate'' EP | length12 = 6:27 | title13 = Awakening of the Gods | note13 = taken from ''Flag of Hate'' EP | length13 = 7:30 | title14 = Endless Pain | note14 = taken from ''Endless Pain'' | length14 = 3:22 | title15 = Tormentor | note15 = taken from ''Endless Pain'' | length15 = 2:52 | title16 = Total Death | note16 = taken from ''Endless Pain'' | length16 = 3:26 }}

==Personnel== ;Kreator * Mille Petrozza – guitars, vocals (2, 4, 6, 7, 9) * Rob Fioretti – bass * Ventor – drums, vocals (3, 5, 8)

;Additional musicians * Michael Wulf – guitars (credited but not played)

;Production * Harris Johns – production, engineering * Ralf Hubert – production * Maren Layout – design * Fred Baumgart, Kreator – photography * Phil Lawvere – cover artwork * Mille Petrozza – remastering * Karl-Ulrich Walterbach – executive production

;2017 re-release * Andy Pearce, Matt Wortham – mastering * Thomas Ewerhard, Jan Meininghaus – art, design * Malcolm Dome – sleeve notes

== Charts == {| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |- ! scope="col"| Chart (2017) ! scope="col"| Peak position |- {{album chart|Germany|99|id=21135|artist=Kreator|album=Pleasure to Kill|rowheader=true|accessdate=16 June 2017}} |}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20080613130920/http://www.kreator-terrorzone.de/site/index.php?s_id=2&lang=en&detail=2 Kreator Terrorzone: ''Pleasure to Kill'']

Category:1986 albums Category:Kreator albums Category:Noise Records albums Category:Albums produced by Harris Johns