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Last Updated on 16:55 by Nikos Nakos
“Flag of Hate” is the first EP by German Thrash Metal Titans Kreator, released on August 4, 1986. Along with Destruction’s “Sentence of Death” (November 1984) and Sodom’s “In the Sign of Evil” (January 1985), “Flag of Hate” integrates the unholy trinity of classic Teutonic Thrash EPs. Of course as all solid and serious EPs back in the day just like the aforementioned outputs of Destruction and Sodom, it features non available in any album tracks. But what makes “Flag of Hate” important is that it is the turning point in which Kreator becomes more professional, more mature, more melodic yet raw and ferocious; don’t bet all their money only on high speed, they try to write mid-paced parts, compose lengthier songs, with better riffs and much better production. To make a long story short, in Flag of Hate Kreator kept the aggression of Pleasure to Kill and the variety of Terrible Certainty, making one step back in order to make two (or more) huge steps in front.
Don’t believe me? Well let’s see what Mille said in an interview back in 1986 in Metal Forces issue #20:
“…I think it’s already released. It’s a little later than we expected because there was a mistake in the cutting, but it should definitely be out. To give you an idea of our new material, one track is about seven and a half minutes, another is slower like “Riot Of Violence” and there is hat better re-recording of “Flag Of Hate…We had learnt a lot since the old days and our riffs were just getting better and better. I wasn’t pleased with “Endless Pain” because the production was very bad. It should have sounded like “Flag Of Hate” on the new EP, that’s more like us really… We hope that new material will be better still because our style is changing and my lyrics are better…”
The mini Ep was also included on the 2000 reissue of the Pleasure to Kill album. US version included three bonus tracks—”Endless Pain”, “Tormentor” and “Total Death”—all from Endless Pain. A less common reissue of Pleasure to Kill has all six as bonus tracks.
