Kreator is a thrash metal band from Essen, Germany. Their style of music is similar to their compatriots Destruction, Sodom and Tankard, the other three big German thrash metal bands. All three bands except Tankard are often credited with helping pioneer death metal, by containing several elements of what was to become the genre.

The band formed in 1982 with no name, but decided on Tormentor in 1984. They originally performed a speed metal style with Venom influences. Kreator's work began in the vein of thrash metal but ventured into Industrial metal and Gothic metal from 1992 to 1999, before eventually returning to their classic thrash sound to date.