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Killer Be Killed - Killer Be Killed review



Reviewer:
8.3

158 users:
7.72
Band: Killer Be Killed
Album: Killer Be Killed
Release date: May 2014


01. Wings Of Feather And Wax
02. Face Down
03. Melting Of My Marrow
04. Snakes Of Jehovah
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
12. Ghosts Of Chernobyl [vinyl bonus]

If bands like Adrenaline Mob, Symfonia, Audioslave, and any of the 300 Anthrax-based supergroups have taught us anything, it's that incredible collaborations have a disappointingly high rate of failure. Fortunately, there are plenty of examples to the contrary, and Killer Be Killed is one of them.

Right away, "Wings Of Feather And Wax" launches into a grungy, distorted verse resembling Mastodon's most lucid moments (appropriately sung by Troy Sanders); Greg Puciato's clean, catchy, soulful chorus follows, to be shored up halfway through the song by Max Cavalera's fast and brutal contribution from his Sepultura days. Greg Puciato has stated that, of all the members' other projects, Killer Be Killed least resembles The Dillinger Escape Plan, and this is probably accurate; Cavalera and Sanders seem to hold the most sway over the album's sound. Most of these songs spring from a combination of Mastodon's most conventional rockers and Sepultura's heavy, occasionally sinister edge.

While not as thoughtful, avant-garde, psychedelic, experimental, or downright inexplicable as The Dillinger Escape Plan or The Mars Volta can be, periodic passages of hazy wandering (usually sung by Sanders) and some irresistibly catchy choruses rescue Killer Be Killed from being purely austere, unadorned heavy metal. Of course, it is largely simple and basic, and this is likely to be the album's biggest criticism; I, too, hope to see some more variation and experimentation on the next album - especially given the diverse talents of the members - but the songs still manage to avoid being boring. The important thing is that Killer Be Killed bears no resemblance to Justin Timberlake or Miley Cyrus, with both of whom Dave Elitch has toured.

Elitch wears the pants musically, as his superb drumming creates a powerful base off of which the songs can build. Puciato's clean vocals mix impeccably well with Cavalera's vicious growls and Sanders's ragged, naturally mesmerizing voice, and this is the album's greatest strength. Many of us wondered who would claim the mic in a collaboration with three singers, and, as it turns out, all of them did. While the material is by no means mediocre, the chemistry between these three strong vocalists makes it far more engaging and memorable than it otherwise would be. More than anything else, this interplay is what attracts me to the band.

Killer Be Killed might be a disappointment to some because it is not as interesting as it could have been, but unlike so many other supergroups, it nonetheless has some strong material to fall back on. While perhaps different from the expected, songs like "Face Down," "Melting Of My Marrow," and "I.E.D." are good enough to make this album a successful experiment, and hopefully just the beginning of Killer Be Killed.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 10
Songwriting: 8
Originality: 7
Production: 8





Written on 21.06.2014 by I'm the reviewer, and that means my opinion is correct.


Comments

Comments: 7   Visited by: 172 users
22.06.2014 - 15:30
Rating: 7
Lethrokai

To be honest, when I first heard the album, I was a little disappointed. (Was expecting more of the fun insanity of TMV and TDEP than I got)

That being said though, I'd definitely agree that what I got was solid, and that these guys are definitely one of the better supergroups in metal. Not sure if I'd have given it this high of a score, but I agree with your review wholeheartedly.
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Sometimes you just need to roll the dice and look away.
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22.06.2014 - 17:34
Troy Killjoy
perfunctionist
This felt way too boring for what it should have been, and Cavalera's vocals pretty much single-handedly turned me off. If they added a little more groove and aimed to make it a little less streamlined I'd probably rate it higher but this just feels like one of those "not good/not bad" albums.
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"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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22.06.2014 - 21:06
Rating: 4
Boxcar Willy
yr a kook
This album fucking sucks so hard and it pisses me off so much because it could have been so good considering the line up. I don't understand why supergroups can never get their shit together.
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14:22 - Marcel Hubregtse
I do your mum

DESTROY DRUM TRIGGERS
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25.06.2014 - 21:06
Rating: 9
schlakt

Great review! i personally think this album is awesome!
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25.06.2014 - 21:46
Rating: 8
ScreamingSteelUS
Editor-in-Chief
Written by schlakt on 25.06.2014 at 21:06

Great review! i personally think this album is awesome!

Thank you! I enjoyed it very much as well.
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"Earth is small and I hate it" - Lum Invader

I'm the Agent of Steel.
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01.07.2014 - 21:06
Guib
Thrash Talker
Oh well, I didn't like this album not even one bit.
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- Headbanging with mostly clogged arteries to that stuff -
Guib's List Of Essential Albums
- Also Thrash Paradise
Thrash Here
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03.07.2014 - 07:16
Rating: 8
Necrodamus

Good review man. I personally think this album is good, quality groove metal. There are many metalcore-esque tandems but for the most part they are well done and memorable. The riffs are heavy and the song structures are great.
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