THE CHAOTIC TIMES OF MILLE PETROZZA: Kreator frontman remembers Cold War Germany, early Metallica shows, self-tattooing, Celtic Frost audition, rejecting drugs, thrash metal’s decline and return

Mille Petrozza is the singer/guitarist of German thrash metal royalty Kreator. In the first episode of Heavy Stories, he talks about his youth in Cold War-era Germany, where violent gangs roamed the streets, he heard horror stories about the Berlin Wall and he tattooed himself in the back of class. He also discusses seeing Metallica on their first-ever European tour, almost joining extreme metal innovators Celtic Frost aged 18, being pen pals with Sepultura, the state of thrash during the turbulent 90s, having his music featured in hit Netflix series Dark, and much, much more. (Photo credit: Robert Eikelpoth)