Kreator - Endless Pain

Before adopting the name Kreator, the band performed under the name Tormentor in their early years in Essen, Germany. Some early demos and underground recordings were released under the Tormentor name before they settled on Kreator for their debut album "Endless Pain" in 1985.

"Endless Pain" was released on Noise Records, a German label that was instrumental in promoting European thrash and speed metal. Noise Records was also home to Helloween, Running Wild, and Tankard, and together with Kreator, these bands helped define the German thrash metal scene alongside Sodom and Destruction.

The lineup on "Endless Pain" featured Mille Petrozza on guitar and vocals, Rob Fioretti on bass, and Jürgen "Ventor" Reil on drums. Notably, Ventor handled lead vocals on several tracks, including "Storm of the Beast," giving the album a more varied vocal approach than Kreator's later releases where Petrozza became the sole vocalist.

"Endless Pain" has a notably raw and unpolished production that reflects the band's youth and the DIY aesthetic of early extreme metal. The follow-up album, 1986's "Pleasure to Kill," maintained much of this aggression but with somewhat improved production, and by 1987's "Terrible Certainty" the band had developed a tighter, more refined thrash sound.