Founded in Essen in 1984, Kreator are probably the most influential and successful European thrash metal band of all time. Like many of their European speed metal brothers, Kreator have fused the thrash innovations of Metallica with the proto-black metal images of Venom. They are often credited with pioneering Death Metal and Black Metal by incorporating several elements into their music that would later become the defining characteristic of these genres The band has sold over two million copies of all their albums worldwide, making them one of the most successful German thrash metal bands of all time. The style of the band has changed several times over the years. From a Venom-inspired speed metal sound, to thrash metal, including a period in the 1990s when they moved from thrash metal to industrial metal and gothic metal. In the early 2000s Kreator returned to their classic thrash sound, to which they have remained true to this day