Mark Tremonti’s never met Mille Petrozza before. But, as the Alter Bridge guitarist joins his Zoom call with the Kreator leader, he laughs, “I feel like I already know you. I’ve done so much research for this!” It’s good that Mark’s clued in; Mille has 40 years of thrash metal trailblazing to talk about. He formed his band with drummer Jürgen ‘Ventor’ Reil when he was just 17 years old. Inspired as much by Twisted Sister as they were by Venom, they became the biggest, fastest and most melodic stars in Teutonic speed metal. As recently as 2017, classics Pleasure To Kill and Extreme Aggression wormed their way into the German charts, three decades after coming out.
Mark’s thrash obsession may not be obvious in his arenarock day jobs – Alter Bridge and, formerly, the radio-ruling Creed – but listen to his Tremonti solo project and the influence is undeniable. On last year’s Marching In Time, his melodic howls were underpinned by brutishly technical riffs. The adoration becomes clear as soon as Mark asks his first question, tipping his hat to Kreator’s ability to stay blistering even on the cusp of their 15 full-length, Hate Über Alles. From there, the pair enjoy an illuminating chat about politics, Celtic Frost and the state of metal today. Mark even offers Mille one of his signature guitars once it’s over. Metal has rarely felt so wholesome.
“After 40 years of playing extreme thrash metal, how do you keep that aggressive edge? How do you keep your mind sosounds like it could have been written by a younger Kreator; you’ve kept the passion alive for so long.” “You’re also a musician, so you must know the feeling when you’re playing music; it keeps you young in your mind. The only way to keep the passion and energy levels up is to really believe in what you do. It’s as simple as that. I always dreamt of being a musician and now I am one, so I do it with all my heart. I guess that’s why it sounds so fresh, hopefully. I take this music thing as seriously as I did when I started, so I still love playing, I still love being in the studio and I still love being on the road. To me, this is living the dream. That’s why we sound like we sound, and if you say we’re sounding as fresh as our younger selves, that’s a huge compliment.”
