Mille Petrozza Of Kreator

He’s a pioneer of the Eighties thrash metal movement and a strict vegan, but what Guitar World readers really want to know is…

- Richard Bienstock

Q: WAS IT DIFFICULT TO BE PLAYING THRASH METAL IN GERMANY IN THE EARLY DAYS OF THE BAND? —BILL HESSON

There were no clubs that really had it. And people didn’t know what to think. There was a huge rock scene, and we had some metal bands like Scorpions and Accept, but there was nothing like Kreator and the early thrash scene. We would play festivals and we would play in the morning. People were like, “Ah, let them play early—it’s just noise.” We were not really respected by the press or whatever. But the fans, they’re the ones that made it happen and we owe everything to them. If it wasn’t for the fans in the beginning, we wouldn’t be here now. We didn’t really have much support from any press, or from anywhere. It was all underground. But it grew naturally. We were never part of the hype or anything like that. We were just part of a scene that happened to become bigger.

Q: Did you have any particular direction in mind with the new Gods of Violence? —Isaac Stephens

We wanted something exciting. And heavy. That’s basically it. We never make any master plan or map of what we want to do. It’s very instantaneous.

Q: The first single from Gods of Violence, “Satan Is Real,” is killer. What is the song about? Do you think that Satan is real? —Maya Christophi