VIOLENT EVOLUTION
THE STORY OF
HILMAR BENDER
Translated and edited by
Emma Östmann and Kathryn Fetteroll
Second Edition, April 2013
Copyright © 2011, 2013 by Hilmar Bender
Cover: Andreas Schmidt and Emma Östmann
Original German title: Violent Evolution
– die Geschichte von Kreator
Released by Ubooks, Germany
Translated and edited by Emma Östmann and Kathryn Fetteroll
with special thanks to Hilmar Bender, Joyce Fetteroll and
the Mille Militia Mädels – www.facebook.com/groups/306536389383810/
ISBN 978-3-944154-95-4
All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced, in any form or by any means,
without the prior permission in writing of Ubooks-Verlag.
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Special thanks to photographers Siarhei Hahulin, Christian Hasselbusch (www.c-hasselbusch.de), Harald Hoffmann (www.haraldhoffmann.com), Natalia Stupnikova and Pieter Verdoes. Thank you Andreas Stein, Roberto Fioretti and Frank Gosdzik for sharing your
collections. Thank you everyone who has contributed to the text and the list.
For my little son.
A new breed has formed here, with tone and manners in common, and all the advantages and disadvantages of the young: freshness, mixed with an easygoing, almost colonial, barbarism. The province – the Ruhr region – does not open itself up to strangers. It is averse to visitors, suspicious of idle people, and the tourist facilities are only for casual visitors, not for those who want to stay. [...] Only hard-working people are sought after, invited, welcomed here. And yet, the Ruhr region still has its attractions. It still smells of money; of hard-earned, easily-frittered-away money; mercenary money, 10-day-wages, measured in material things.
Heinrich Böll, 1958
(Translated from the German original Im Ruhrgebiet by Heinrich Böll. In Werke, Kölner edition,
volume 10. © 1958, 1967, 2005 Kiepenheuer & Witsch GmbH & Co. KG, Köln)
WE ASKED FOR AN ENGLISH EDITION
AND THEN ENDED UP DOING THE
TRANSLATION OURSELVES
“Hey, Kat! What do you say we give the people the background story to how all of this came about?”
“Of course! I think people would enjoy hearing how all this madness was born! Between broken computers, Kreator concerts, balancing life and full-time jobs, switched deadlines and battling words for months, we managed to pull off a translation of something we ourselves were so excited to read! Emma brought the idea to life, and we ran with it! So she should tell the story of how everything actually came into being.”
“Yes! This whole thing started on Christmas Eve 2011. I wrote a message to Cindy in Australia, because on her Facebook profile it said, ‘I love it when Mille yells!’ This girl must be as crazy as I am, I thought. A couple of weeks later we started a Facebook group, the Mille Militia – International Miland Petrozza Appreciation Society for Women, and began posting Kreator photos, interviews and YouTube clips. The group grew and today we are 47 members from all over the world – women only – except for Hilmar, who is the only man allowed because he wrote this book. But what is the Mille Militia really all about, Kat?”
“Appreciating Mille! Everything to do with him and his music! And we really do mean everything, too. Which is how I originally found the Militia, wandering around on the internet until I found a place where I could share photos, videos, stories, my artwork and worship in the Temple of Mille … or I mean, discuss matters in a group of cool, like-minded people on the internet. Yes. That then led to me joining Emma on her endeavor to translate this book!”
“Yes, that’s how it all started a year ago. Actually, I think it was Lorena from Brazil (another one of the Mille Militia Mädels) who first suggested we should do the translation ourselves. Some of us had already read Violent Evolution in German, and we knew there was a great demand for an English version. Also, this new edition provided a great opportunity to share some of the rare photos we have found, and Kat’s amazing Kreator fan-art! Some of those drawings now illustrate this book, along with lots of exclusive photos – both new and old. And stories, stories, stories! There are so many interesting little tour stories and anecdotes in this book already, but we have even more! Please share that funny elevator story, Kat!”
“Yes! One of my favorite Kreator stories was told to me by Kurt Brecht of DRI: Back when the two bands were touring together in the late ‘80s, it took Kurt a few shows to catch a whole Kreator set. Finally, he was able to and one song in particular stuck out for him. Later on, Kurt ran into Mille in the hotel elevator. Psyched to tell Mille how much he liked the one specific song, he told the Kreator frontman which one it was. Mille’s expression of excitement dissolved to despair. When Kurt asked why, Mille explained, ‘That song you mentioned. It’s called “Lambs to the Slaughter.” It’s a cover song. The only cover song we do!’ It was a very awkward rest of the elevator ride after that for the both of them.”
“Hahaha, poor Mille! I have another funny story first hand from Mikael Stanne of Dark Tranquillity. This was also back in the late ‘80s, and Mikael and his friends had a garage band in Gothenburg, Sweden. Their first really important musical influence was Kreator’s ‘Flag of Hate’ on vinyl, bought at the local record store. (Mikael told me how they bought everything that came out on Noise Records, because ‘how can you not trust a German record label?’) Anyway. Mikael was blown away by ‘Flag of Hate’ and wanted to do a cover of the song with his own band, but he couldn’t make out the lyrics! What to do? He somehow managed to get hold of the phone number to Mille’s parents in Essen, Germany (this was when Mille was still living at home), called them up and asked if he could speak to Mille. He wanted Mille to read him the lyrics to ‘Flag of Hate’ over the phone!”
“There are too many ridiculous and silly stories to tell about the translating process too, most of which happening on very little sleep and overdosing on Kreator at hours of the night no one should be up editing passages about headbanging cows. Or the mysterious drug, Prolofan. But that’s what this was all about: having a blast doing the coolest job two Kreator nuts could ask for. Translated with loving care by fans for fans! Lots of loving care!”
“Oh yes! All for the love of God of Riffs! We asked Mille once in an interview how it felt to have his own female fan club; did it make him feel proud or embarrassed? Mille answered, ‘Both!’ … (Sorry Mille, we didn’t mean to embarrass you! :-)”
“I think the best way to sum up the Mille Militia is at the end of this book where Emma has lovingly captured one of our finest moments getting quite excited over the infamous Kreator Beach Picture. Going into detail about how I felt when I first saw that would not be safe right now. So go look at the picture instead and enjoy the craziness that ensued!”
“Ooo, I feel a little bit embarrassed myself right now! Haha! But that photo is just too good not to share with the rest of the world. Thank you Kreator for the inspiration! And special thanks to Hilmar, who has been extremely supportive and put up with our endless questions. We would never have pulled this off without you. Thank you, Hilmish! I hope we did your story justice.”
“I’d also like to give a shout out and thank my mother, Joyce, for stepping in when my computer decided to quit on me in the middle of editing! Right close to the deadline! She really saved us.”
“Thanks Joyce! And very special thanks to Cindy Karastanovic and the Mille Militia Mädels worldwide – all of the same blood! And finally, thank you Kreator for the music! Thanks to the former band members and especially to Mille, Jülle, Speesy and Sami. Without you there would be no story to tell!”
Emma Östmann and Kathryn Fetteroll
Stenungsund and Dearborn Heights
January 2013
PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION
Crossing borders has been usual for Kreator since the very early days. They already hopped the ocean to play America at nineteen, and continued to unite thrash metal fans all over the world for the next 25 years. Until recently, when they got deliberately hampered to play a Middle East show by border officials. 2000 fans from surrounding countries had already gathered in Istanbul. A simple clue that shows: terror prevails.
But, thank god for the internet, other boundaries untied. This is how I met Emma, Kat and the Mille Militia. These guys spent a lot of enthusiasm to spread Violent Evolution around the world, by translating it into English. Thank you for enhancing this book. It was a pleasure.
Hilmar Bender, January 2013
This book is based on narratives by:
Mille – Miland Petrozza – Guitar, Vocals
Jülle – Jürgen “Ventor” Reil – Drums
Rob – Roberto Fioretti – Bass
Tritze – Jörg Trzebiatowski – Guitar
Frank Blackfire – Frank Gosdzik – Guitar
Joe Cangelosi – Drums
Tommy Vetterli – Guitar
Speesy – Christian Giesler – Bass
Sami Yli-Sirniö – Guitar
Stoney – Andreas Stein – Merchandise, Kreator-Museum
Ulsch – Ulrich Weitz – Tech, Driver
Boggi – Bogdan Kopec – Management
Karl-Ulrich Walterbach – Founder of Noise Records
Manfred Reil – Father
Barbara & Piero Petrozza – Parents
Andreas Marschall – Graphics, Filmmaker
Thomas Schadt – Filmmaker
Sung-Hyung Cho – Filmmaker
Stephanie von Beauvais – Filmmaker
Moses Schneider – Producer
Nagel Mann – Singer, Writer
and
Stefan Remter
Markus Tenbergen &
Christoph Dreher