Album Type : Full Length
Date Released : 13/5/2014
Label : Nuclear Blast
Killer
Be Killed, track listing :
01. Wings of Feather And Wax
02. Face Down
03. Melting Of My Marrow
04. Snakes of Jehova
05. Curb Crusher
06. Save The Robots
07. Fire To Your Flag
08. I.E.D.
09. Dust Into Darkness
10. Twelve Labors
11. Forbidden Fire
BONUS
TRACK:
12. Ghosts Of Chernobyl
The
Band
Greg Puciato | Vocals/Guitar
Max Cavalera | Vocals/Guitar
Troy Sanders | Vocals/Bass
Dave Elitch | Drums/Percussion
Review
:
Killer Be Killed sound exactly like you imagined this collaborative project to sound like. It’s as if each member takes it in turns to pummel your eardrums and kick your arse with their own unique brand of skull crushing metal. The different sounds, feels and flavours that make up this collage of an album could only have been born from these four individual and innovative minds: From the dark, intimidating assault of Max Cavalera, to the progressive ambience and heavy grooves that Troy Sanders brings to the table, with Dave Elitch stretching their sonic tonalities with moments of light and shade. The Dillinger Escape Plan’s Greg Puciato meanwhile, offers the off-the-wall, bat-shit-craziness that have helped propel his band proper to a headline slot at this year’s Download festival.
The term ‘supergroup’ so often comes coupled with the cursed and crippling weight of expectation, not to mention the potentially explosive – in both positive and negative senses of the word – reaction the combined personnel and egos can have on a band of this calibre. But Killer Be Killed deserves to be viewed with the same perception as any new band. This is an experiment, a playful fugacious project that is designed solely for the fun of its counterparts. Their fun consequently rubs off, quite infectiously, on you. For that’s all this record is: brutal, yes, carefully crafted, yes, but above all else, it is fun. There are no egos here.
From the instant opener ‘Wings of Feather And Wax’ roars into life, like a runaway freight train, there is nothing you can do but get sucked in for the ride. Its chorus, a gigantean, anthemic and utterly superb piece of music, hits you like a sucker punch. Once you’ve heard it, you won’t forget it.
‘Melting Of My Marrow’ packs another dastardly catchy chorus, pumped with aggression and leaning more towards Puciato’s sound, while a searing breakdown keeps things fresh. ‘Curb Crusher’, although you could argue its case for having one too many choruses, it is a wham-bam-thank-you-mam of a track that hits you hard and fast before disappearing into the night.
‘Save The Robots’ sees the psychedelic aesthetics emphasized alongside stampeding riffs and a standout performance from Dave Elitch. Elsewhere, ‘Dust Into Darkness’ boats one of the record’s most magnificent bits of fretwork on the album in its thrashy, gutsy verse all the while maintaining a seriously strong melody to it.
There just seems to be an undeniably prickling chemistry between the members and they all twist and pull the songs into a myriad of directions, leaving you with mouth agape. A Cavelera verse and a Sanders chorus all pivoting on a Puciato riff? Just devastating. It’s an orgy of innovation that transcends sub-genres and pigeon holes that can only properly be described as the audio equivalent of an earth-flattening tsunami.
The result of this fleeting adventure can only be one of benefit to their full time exponents. If Cavalera’s work had never grabbed you before for instance, you may find yourself scrawling through his back catalogue once more after this most convincing of re-introductions.
A serious contender for album of the year, Killer Be Killed has slain the rest of the trailing pack.
Killer Be Killed sound exactly like you imagined this collaborative project to sound like. It’s as if each member takes it in turns to pummel your eardrums and kick your arse with their own unique brand of skull crushing metal. The different sounds, feels and flavours that make up this collage of an album could only have been born from these four individual and innovative minds: From the dark, intimidating assault of Max Cavalera, to the progressive ambience and heavy grooves that Troy Sanders brings to the table, with Dave Elitch stretching their sonic tonalities with moments of light and shade. The Dillinger Escape Plan’s Greg Puciato meanwhile, offers the off-the-wall, bat-shit-craziness that have helped propel his band proper to a headline slot at this year’s Download festival.
The term ‘supergroup’ so often comes coupled with the cursed and crippling weight of expectation, not to mention the potentially explosive – in both positive and negative senses of the word – reaction the combined personnel and egos can have on a band of this calibre. But Killer Be Killed deserves to be viewed with the same perception as any new band. This is an experiment, a playful fugacious project that is designed solely for the fun of its counterparts. Their fun consequently rubs off, quite infectiously, on you. For that’s all this record is: brutal, yes, carefully crafted, yes, but above all else, it is fun. There are no egos here.
From the instant opener ‘Wings of Feather And Wax’ roars into life, like a runaway freight train, there is nothing you can do but get sucked in for the ride. Its chorus, a gigantean, anthemic and utterly superb piece of music, hits you like a sucker punch. Once you’ve heard it, you won’t forget it.
‘Melting Of My Marrow’ packs another dastardly catchy chorus, pumped with aggression and leaning more towards Puciato’s sound, while a searing breakdown keeps things fresh. ‘Curb Crusher’, although you could argue its case for having one too many choruses, it is a wham-bam-thank-you-mam of a track that hits you hard and fast before disappearing into the night.
‘Save The Robots’ sees the psychedelic aesthetics emphasized alongside stampeding riffs and a standout performance from Dave Elitch. Elsewhere, ‘Dust Into Darkness’ boats one of the record’s most magnificent bits of fretwork on the album in its thrashy, gutsy verse all the while maintaining a seriously strong melody to it.
There just seems to be an undeniably prickling chemistry between the members and they all twist and pull the songs into a myriad of directions, leaving you with mouth agape. A Cavelera verse and a Sanders chorus all pivoting on a Puciato riff? Just devastating. It’s an orgy of innovation that transcends sub-genres and pigeon holes that can only properly be described as the audio equivalent of an earth-flattening tsunami.
The result of this fleeting adventure can only be one of benefit to their full time exponents. If Cavalera’s work had never grabbed you before for instance, you may find yourself scrawling through his back catalogue once more after this most convincing of re-introductions.
A serious contender for album of the year, Killer Be Killed has slain the rest of the trailing pack.
Words by : Phil Weller
