INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Much will be made of the sum of the parts that make up Killer Be Killed. With a pedigree that boasts bands like Soulfly, Mastodon and The Dillinger Escape Plan, it results in a beast with blood on its teeth, spitting out the tattered remains of a chew toy and the neighbour’s cat.
Killer Be Killed, as a result, is kind of a big deal. Rather than come across as some bizarre Gregg Gillis mashup experiment, the day job of each band member is blended into something fresh and new. It’s ferociously confident in its approach and confidently ferocious in its execution, leaping from clenched-fist choruses (‘Wings Of Feather And Wax’, ‘Melting Of My Marrow’) to drilling riffs that require so much head-banging it would leave Willow Smith in a neck brace.
There is barely a moment of reflection, or even a chance to catch your breath. Then again, listeners needing either of those things probably wouldn’t be interested in this album to begin with.
A world away from the usual kind of supergroup indulgence, Killer Be Killed feels like the start of something truly promising. It’s a world where there’s only one rule: don’t you dare listen at any volume below maximum.
4/5.
Killer Be Killed is out now through Nuclear Blast.
