KILLER
KILLER – “Hellfire”
By Dark Starr
Have you heard a lot of Belgian heavy metal bands? Well, KILLER is one such band. This double CD set is made up by their brand-new album and a second disc of highlights from their 43 year career. I have to say that their brand of metal is pretty diverse. It's also solid. It does have a tendency to get a little monolithic at times, but for the most part they keep it creative and inventive.
There are over 30 songs here between the two discs, so that's quite a bit of music, but I'll run down a few of the highlights for me. The new music starts with a song called "Argus Eyes," and it screams in fierce and driving. It's a scorching hot metal stomper. The instrumental section on it includes some amazing guitar soloing. It really is a great way to start the set in style. "Money" is a real SAXON meets MOTÖRHEAD kind of vibe to this. It's energized, raw and so cool. As good as the opener was, it might actually raise the bar a little. There is definitely a NWOBHM feeling to this. I can make out hints of early IRON MAIDEN.
Raw, furious and driving, MOTÖRHEAD is again a valid reference point on "Rat Race." It is definitely one of my favorites on the first disc. "Different Worlds" has some mellower, balladic like portions, but it also rocks out at other points. It is a cool tune, and another side of the sound. There is plenty of NWOBHM on the song. I really dig the melodic guitar soloing on the piece.
I really dig the driving metal and classy chorus on "Nightmare." The tune is mean, but also catchy. The guitar soloing is surprisingly melodic and intricate. It is smoking hot riff-driven metal music. The riffing on "Trouble" is particularly meaty. There is a raw angle to it and some raunch and roll elements. The guitar solo is so fierce and powerful.
I really like the driving energy of "House of Glass." It's another strong rocker with plenty of metal within. It manages to rise above the sameness of some of the music here. "In a Dream Within a Dream" serves as the closer for the new album proper, and it is very much a power ballad. It's also so powerful. It's packed full of style and emotion. It has some killer expressive guitar soloing, too.
The second song on the second CD, "Backshooter" (2023 Version) is a real winner. I love the riffing that gets the stomper underway. It has a lot of raunch and roll in the mix. It's another that definitely makes me think of MOTÖRHEAD. More metallic, "Secret Love" (2023 Version) is a stomper and one of my favorites on the second disc. It has some great hooks.
I love the almost punky vocal hooks on "No Future." The tune has some great raw energy, too. There is a cool dropped back movement that's slow moving and reminds me of some of the Uli Jon Roth era of SCORPIONS. There is almost a psychedelic angle to it. That really elevates the piece. In fact, I'd consider it one of my favorites of the whole set. It comes back out of that into another driving section that really rocks.
Drums start "Shock Waves" and hold it for about 20 seconds or so. It drives out into a seriously frantic and furious screamer from there. This thing is positively on fire. It has a definite punky edge to it, but also plenty of real metal. It's very thrashy. It is also tastefully raw. It has a cool, echoey, effects laden ending.
There is a sense of impending power as "Steel Meets Steel" gets going. The cut drives out into some scorching hot old-school metal zones from there. I can hear hints of THIN LIZZY in some of the guitar work. There is a rawer metal edge once the vocals join. It is another powerhouse and highlight of the set. The instrumental section on it is packed full of screaming metal guitars and killer changes. In fact, that's one of the best parts of the entire double disc set. It's got a lot of magic built into it.
A cinematic symphonic sort of movement brings "Broken Silence" into being. That holds the cut for quite a while. When the more metal approach joins in, it still has bits of that symphonic keyboard presence. They work it out into a faster paced, furious movement from there, and the keys really soar over the top. When the vocals join the keys are gone. This is very much of the "speed metal meets epic" school. It's another highlight of the set. It features some very classically oriented stuff on some of the instrumental parts.