Album review: KILLER – Hellfire (And The Best of Killer) 2 CD Edition

Cherry Red/HNE [Release date: 21.03.23]

Belgium: 1980 : 3 respected, experienced, died in the wool rock musicians split with their long time bands, and get together to share a different musical destiny.

Paul “Shorty” Van Camp, “Fat Leo” and “Spooky” on lead guitar, vocals, drums and bass respectively, had enjoyed an enviable, hard rock reputation as they moved through Belgium’s live music circles over the years, building a decent sized following as they went.

But their transition from rock into heavy metal was a decisive move, and the key to their longevity.

And now, 23 years later a smart label has released a simple but nevertheless cleverly constructed 2 CD package.

CD1 is the band’s brand new offering, Hellfire, and CD2 is a best off, a careful winnowing of a bumper crop of tracks taken from 7 albums over 30 years, leaving us with the truly heavy stuff to enjoy.

CD 2: The Best Of: As if they know better than us, the band have selected three tracks from the first two albums, and rerecorded them with the benefit of today’s cutting edge studio technology.

Those tracks ‘Backshooter’, ‘Secret Love’ from the debut Ready For Hell, and ‘Blinded’ from the follow up, Wall Of Sound, are among the best stuff they have written. Paradoxically, they now sound heavier and yet lighter on their feet, combining short, sharp punches with heavy metal haymakers. As was reported by the more enlightened music media, there are echoes there of Brit metal bands like Saxon and Iron Maiden and their many imitators, but Killer were making their own way.

CD1: Hellfire : Hellfire is a monster heavy metal album, wrenched screaming straight out of the last century. No wonder Killer were compared to single minded pathfinders like Motorhead and Metallica. Here, they’ve made a significant jump into the nineties.

Even among the standout tracks, ‘Cuts Like A Knife’ and ‘Rat Race’ are special, coaxing the muzzy tone of twin guitars into sludgy, stoner rock territory, or steamrollering down the heavy metal highway to the sound of raw, driven, downtuned guitars.

Makes you wonder why Killer never really “made it”. It’s only when you catch up on the band’s history that you discover what happened.

Building on a positive media reception across Europe and the US to their third album, Shock Waves (1983), the band signed with fledgling rock/metal label, Mausoleum. They readied a groundbreaking, double CD live album for release.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: the label went bust and the album didn’t see the light of day. A familiar story. Obviously the band survived the setback but never truly found themselves on the same path to glory again. ***1/2

Review by Brian McGowan

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)