* En anglais uniquement
Metal supergroup
Killer Be Killed emerged in the early 2010s with a roster that includes
Dillinger Escape Plan vocalist
Greg Puciato,
Soulfly frontman
Max Cavalera,
Mastodon bassist Troy Sanders, and former
Mars Volta drummer
Dave Elitch. Their aggressive yet melodic blend of sludgy metal and hardcore punk, combined with
Elitch's expansive drumming skills (he was jazz-trained and had played with everyone from
Miley Cyrus to
M83), made them a big hit with fans of the bandmembers' parent groups. The band released their searing eponymous debut in 2014, with their sophomore effort,
Reluctant Hero, arriving in 2020.
Puciato and
Cavalera had met at an L.A. benefit gig for the late
Deftones bassist
Chi Cheng. Having worked together on a
Soulfly song ("Rise of the Fallen"), they had become friends and had often talked about recording an album together in the vein of
Cavalera's earlier
Nailbomb project with
Fudge Tunnel's
Alex Newport, but it was not until 2011 that they finally got together to make a demo. Excited with the results,
Puciato approached his longtime friends
Elitch and Sanders about playing on the record, and
Killer Be Killed was born. Having chosen a name, they hammered out material in several lengthy rehearsal studio jam sessions during 2013 before entering the studio to record with producer
Josh Wilbur.
Signing to
Nuclear Blast, the group released their debut album,
Killer Be Killed, in May 2014. Combining the raw hardcore and thrash influences of
Soulfly with the progressive sludge and doom tendencies of
Mastodon, the record was not only popular with their existing fans but also attracted acclaim from other sectors of the metal world and beyond. The bandmembers spent the next few years tending to their myriad other projects, but they returned in 2020 with their second album, the punishing
Reluctant Hero. ~ John D. Buchanan