Coma of Souls is the fifth studio album by German thrash metal band Kreator, released in 1990. It was reissued in 2002, with the lyrics for the last four songs missing from the booklet. Coma of Souls was Kreator's first release with guitarist Frank "Blackfire" Gosdzik (then-formerly of Sodom), and would be the last album before the band began experimenting with influences from other musical genres. It also would be the last record issued in the United States by Epic Records. Release Coma of Souls was also released in the United States as a limited edition in purple vinyl. Although the album's lyrics contain no profanity, original copies of Coma of Souls had a Parental Advisory label on the cover. Subsequent pressings of the album do not carry the Parental Advisory label.[citation needed] Critical reception In March 2018, German record label Noise released a remastered edition of the album and made it available on CD and vinyl. The release contains a live performance of Kreator at Stadthalle Fürth, Germany on 6 December 1990, and liner notes. Billboard in its favourable review compared the songwriting of Kreator with that of Metallica and Nuclear Assault and noted lyrical topics: "Songs targeting environmental crisis, war-mongering, and renascent Nazism in band's native land [...] Ecodisaster number 'When The Sun Burns Red' is excellent first course."[1] Rock Hard reviewer considered Coma of Souls an improvement from its predecessor and wrote that "the new songs look mature, elaborately designed, without losing their aggressiveness."[4] Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic praised the "overwhelmingly solid songwriting", but found that "Coma of Souls still sounded somewhat repetitive to all but the most unquestioning of fans" and was "guaranteed to thrill lovers of technically proficient thrash. During their early years of activity, Kreator released albums with maniacal frequency - almost year after year, but this is surprising considering their testosterone-packed music. "Coma Of Souls" is not a glorious exception in this situation, because this album was created similarly quickly to "Extreme Aggression" and "Terrible Certainty". However, when it comes to changes in the line-up and purely musical aspects, this is more interesting, because regardless of such a short time interval, a lot of them have happened. First of all, Jörg Tritze left the band and was replaced by Frank Blackfire (thus leaving Sodom), while musically the Germans decided to move to the current trends. And no, it's not about greater radicalization, which was brought by the growing death metal wave at that time, but from the other side, when thrash metal became more accessible, professional-sounding and generally more appealing to people. Kreator followed this second path in 1990 on their fifth full-length album. For that time, however, it was difficult to accuse Mille & co. of a drastic transformation. "Coma Of Souls" in many respects continues the more structured and civilized look at thrash metal started on "Extreme Aggression". Naturally, fast gallops and aggressive bursts have not disappeared completely, although in many fragments medium/slow parts and more strongly defined melodies come to the fore, letting a lot of space into the generally fast and rocking music of these Germans. There is also a noticeable step forward in terms of technique on "Coma...", but it's no surprise that the guys had already managed to master the use of instruments during concerts and previous albums - progress was inevitable in their case. The music of this quartet on the "Coma..." became, at the expense of the previous wilderness, clearer, catchier and more clearly rich in details, and therefore slightly lighter and containing an even more American sound setting (after all, they were recording in the USA again). However, there is nothing to regret about this, because - as I mentioned - Kreator's style still put thrash metal aggression first. "Coma Of Souls" contains a lot of very good songs, most of which can claim to be thrash metal hits - with "People Of The Lie" ahead. Well, "People Of The Lie", "Terror Zone", "When The Sun Burns Red", "Material World Paranoia" and "Hidden Dictator" prove that the less crazy and more civilized incarnation of Kreator also presents an extremely high level. The Germans' music is full of the previous feistiness, aggressiveness, fast paces and Mille's characteristically venomous vocals, and on the other hand, great differentiation and dynamics between slower and faster parts, catchy melodies and very heavy metal solos. A lot of good things can also be said about the sound of "Coma...", which is both transparent and sterile enough, as well as containing the right amount of naturalness. From the first five albums, "Coma Of Souls" is the weakest on Kreator's list, although it's still a very high-quality release, with a large dose of well-thought-out compositions and not bringing any shame to the band. On their fifth longplay, Mille Petrozza's band successfully took a more civilized look at thrash metal and - which is not so obvious for everyone - achieved gigantic commercial success. Although I preferred their earlier, wild side, I would be ignorant if I didn't appreciate this album. Because "Coma Of Souls" is simply a piece of very good and professional-sounding music.