A veritable "Supergroup" make up of members/former members of such big acts as SEPULTURA, SOULFLY, THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, MASTODON and THE MARS VOLTA, KILLER BE KILLED release their first, eleven-track album on Nuclear Blast Records.  The band leads in the album with this message: "The bevy of sun-genres with Heavy Metal and Hardcore Punk have often given birth to one-off partnerships, guest appearance and duets, but rarely is there an entire band assembled with the primary purpose of getting into a room together to watch what happens with their respective creative muses danced, fucked, or fought."

"Wings of Feather and Wax" leads us off here.  It's an interesting and lively genre-bending mix of pure pleasure.  We have some elements of thrash, hardcore and even some AOR going on.  Vocally they use both clean harmonies and some screaming throughout the song as well.  The end mix is as unique as anything I have heard in some time.  "Face Down" pumps out pure energy, with a fast based, brutal offering not without melody or hooks, while "Melting of My Marrow" leads with melody before a pounding rhythm and bass section drive home some really nice chords ad hooks. The tracks are varied enough to keep you interested yet there is a connectedness here that I find hard to describe.  It's almost as if this group of four have been together for years doing this.

"Snakes of Jehova" circles back around to pure, vicious ruthlessness.  The death vocals lead the way here and this song is unabashed, head-banging Metal.  At times here I pick up on a European type sound that I love so much.  The focus here is crushing, driving toughness. "Curb Crusher" continues in this style, but with a great, melodious chorus, that have that MeloDeath type of polarity to it.  There is nothing repetitive or mundane here.  Indeed, the creativity from track to track is probably the biggest strength of the album.

The bass lead and electronic tinge of "Save The Robots" is just fantastic, as are the doses of wah-wah that carry the main riff.  Harmonic vocals soon give way to frantic, earthy screams and another powerful track with plenty of variegate.  As the title suggests, "Fire To Your Flag" is a potently fast and hardcore track, and "I.E.D" is a bit slower, but with a really heavy bottom end and no lack of power.  At one point the riff is underscored with a doubling kind of technique which just makes it that much more dynamic.

Some other highlights on the album include the sludgy but harmonic "Dust Into Darkness" which reminds me of some old school PANTERA, the brutal yet ethereal quality to "Twelve Labors," where the melody in the chorus really shines, and the closing track, "Forbidden Fire."  The song opens minimally, with a really affable but mysterious kind of groove, and drives home the point of how well the band have swirled together so many different types of sounds into their music.  I had absolutely no expectations for this album when I was studying the band and listening to the music, so the review here is as honest and you will get.  Supergroups often scare me, because rarely have I ever heard one where the sum of the individual parts comes out better than the prowess of each member.  In many cases, egos can get in the way, and a clear vision never gets established.  In the case of KILLER BE KILLED, I am still amiss as to how well the band managed to create something that encompasses so many sub-genres and sounds, while maintaining an absolute order to their brand.  It's almost as if they have created their own genre here, or have given one of the finest examples of a band that cannot be labeled by one or two genres alone.  Bravo fellas.  This is one completely out of the ordinary album that I highly recommend.