Review Text
In the history of Belgian heavy metal there are just a handful of bands who stand apart as being influential and impressive; of these, Killer are perhaps the most crucial of all. While there have been others - notably Acid, Ostragoth, Crossfire and FN Guns - who have all made their impact, it is Killer who are regarded as the most important metal name ever to come out of Belgium. Our highly influential heavy metal heroes originally formed in 1980, by Paul "Shorty" Van Camp on lead guitar and lead vocals, "Fat Leo" on drums and "Spooky" on bass guitar and lead vocals. Inspired by the UK's New Wave Of British Heavy Metal scene that gave us Iron Maiden, Saxon and Diamond Head, Killer's heavy and aggressive sound, alloyed to their power trio format, led to favourable, and not unfounded comparisons to Motörhead. After a mere four months they released "Ready For Hell" on WEA, becoming a cult draw across Europe. They would release "Wall Of Sound" in 1981, "Shock Waves" in 1984 and "Fatal Attraction" in 1990, all of which have been collected together by HNE Recordings on KILLER: Volume One - The Mausoleum Years Boxset 1980-1990 [HNEBOX114]. Although the advent of grunge put Killer on hiatus for the remainder of the 1990s, the band reformed around Paul "Shorty" Van Camp for 2003's "Broken Silence", happily resurrecting their classic 80s metal sound, but now augmented by the inclusion of keyboards, reflecting the influence of the classic hard rock of Deep Purple and Uriah Heep. Killer now featured a line-up completed by Spin on bass, Vanne on drums and Dave on keyboards. The same band recorded the follow-up in 2005 with "Immortal", continuing the keyboard augmented sound developed on "Broken Silence", and with "Shorty" now the sole vocalist. There was a ten year gap before 2015's "Monsters Of Rock", with a band featuring Jakke on bass and vocals and Vanne on drums. Without the inclusion of keyboards, Killer returned to their more metal driven sound. As an extra bonus, this set is rounded off with Paul "Shorty" Van Camp's 1988 solo offering "Too Wild To Tame". With "Shorty" taking vocals and lead guitar, he was joined by Olaf Van Deuren on rhythm guitar, Apache on vocals and bass, plus former Killer bandmate "Double Bear" on drums. The set includes liner notes from Classic Rock's Malcolm Dome based on new interviews with Paul "Shorty" Van Camp. Killer are currently working on an album new of new recordings, based on their classic material, and continue to tour until the present day.
