Kreator

Kreator. The name alone sounds like someone's trying too hard to be hard, doesn't it? Kreator is hard, though, and has been for over twenty years. Yeah, the act's moniker is kind of cheesy, but Kreator knows a thing or two about kicking ass. Cue up these German thrash-metal kings' 1989 opus, Extreme Aggression, and sit back and watch as the rest of your CD collection cowers in fear. Thankfully, the group moved past its experimental phase from the mid-'90s and returned to more bellicose and apocalyptic grounds with last year's Enemy of God. Sharing the stage with Kreator this Friday night will be Britain's most infamous grindcore export, Napalm Death, who itself has been damaging eardrums for more than two decades. Sound punishing? There's more: The Euro-metal invasion will also include hardcore-heavy A Perfect Murder and the tree-hugging vegans of the Undying. Earplugs, anyone?