Killer Be Killed is an American heavy metal supergroup founded by Dillinger Escape Plan vocalist

Greg Puciato Gregory John Puciato (born March 27, 1980) is an American musician best known as the former lead vocalist and lyricist of the metalcore band the Dillinger Escape Plan. He is also the lead singer of the Black Queen and Killer Be Killed, in which ...

and

Soulfly Soulfly is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1997, and later based out of Phoenix, Arizona. Soulfly is led by former Sepultura frontman Max Cavalera, who formed the band after he left the Brazilian group in 19 ...

frontman

Max Cavalera Massimiliano Antonio "Max" Cavalera (; born August 4, 1969) is a Brazilian musician. He co-founded the heavy metal band Sepultura in 1984 with his brother Igor Cavalera, and was the band's lead singer and rhythm guitarist until his departure i ...

in early 2011. The lineup also features

Mastodon A mastodon ( 'breast' + 'tooth') is any proboscidean belonging to the extinct genus ''Mammut'' (family Mammutidae). Mastodons inhabited North and Central America during the late Miocene or late Pliocene up to their extinction at the end of th ...

bassist and co-vocalist

Troy Sanders Troy Jayson Sanders (born September 8, 1973) is an American musician, best known as a member of heavy metal band Mastodon, in which he plays bass and sings alongside guitarist Brent Hinds and drummer Brann Dailor. He is also active in Killer ...

and

Converge Converge may refer to: * Converge (band), American hardcore punk band * Converge (Baptist denomination), American national evangelical Baptist body * Limit (mathematics) * Converge ICT, internet service provider in the Philippines *CONVERGE CFD s ...

drummer

Ben Koller Ben Koller (born July 29, 1980) is an American drummer who has played with Converge, Mutoid Man, Killer Be Killed and All Pigs Must Die. He started playing a full drum kit at age 14. Musical career Early bands (1997–1999) Koller played ...

. The band had slowly been working on material before announcing its name in October 2013,Project Featuring MAX CAVALERA, GREG PUCIATO, TROY SANDERS Gets Name

Blabbermouth.net Blabbermouth.net is a website dedicated to heavy metal and hard rock news, as well as album and music DVD reviews. Blabbermouth.net was founded and is run by Borivoj Krgin. The first version of the website was launched in March 2001; in Octob ...

. October 18, 2013. Retrieved October 20, 2013. along with their signing to

Nuclear Blast Nuclear Blast is a record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label mov ...

.Max Cavalera/Greg Puciato/Troy Sanders Supergroup Finds a Label Home
MetalSucks. October 15, 2013. Retrieved October 20, 2013. The group's self-titled debut record was released on May 13, 2014.Killer Be Killed Featuring Cavalera, Puciato, Sanders: Debut Album Cover Artwork Revealed

. March 10, 2014. Retrieved March 10, 2014. On September 4, 2020, the group returned with a new single, and released their second album '' Reluctant Hero'' on November 20, 2020.

History

Formation, early years and self-titled (2011–2015)

The band was first announced in February 2011, when

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...

reported news of Puciato and Cavalera planning a new project in the vein of Cavalera's

Nailbomb Nailbomb was a heavy metal band formed in 1994 as a side project by Brazilian musician Max Cavalera of Sepultura, Cavalera Conspiracy and Soulfly, and English musician Alex Newport of Fudge Tunnel. The band recorded one studio album, '' Point ...

band with Alex Newport in the mid 1990s. Shortly afterwards, Mars Volta's Dave Elitch and Mastodon bassist Troy Sanders were announced to be part of the project.

bassist

Nate Newton Nathaniel Newton (born December 20, 1961) is a former American football guard in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys and Carolina Panthers. He also was a member of the Tampa Bay Bandits of the United States Football League. He ...

was originally eyed to be included in the project, but was unable to join, so Cavalera reached out to Sanders instead. Despite not yet having a name, the group entered the Fortress Studio in Los Angeles in September 2013 with producer Josh Wilbur. In October 2013, the band revealed Killer Be Killed as their name and announced that their first album would be released through Nuclear Blast. In March 2014, an announcement confirmed that the band's debut album would be self-titled, '' Killer Be Killed'', and would be released on May 13, 2014. On March 14, 2014, two songs from the upcoming eponymous debut, "Wings of Feather and Wax", and "Face Down" were made available for streaming.

drummer

joined for the band's live debut at Soundwave Festival and was announced as a full-fledged member that summer, replacing Elitch.

''Reluctant Hero'' (2016–present)

In an interview with Full Metal Jackie, Cavalera said he'd love to do another Killer Be Killed album; "I'd love to do a little bit with Killer Be Killed … We did one record and it was very well received, and I think we can do a better one than that. I think we can really — if we work hard on it — we can make a kick ass second Killer Be Killed album." In a 2016

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

update Koller announced there is "whispers in the dark of a new Killer Be Killed album". In April 2018, Max Cavalera confirmed that the band were convening in

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

to write and rehearse new material in

's rehearsal space, with the aim of releasing a new album in 2019. On Friday, September 4, 2020, the band released a brand new song called "Deconstructing Self-Destruction" which features Max, Greg, Troy and Ben credited as writers. The song is the first single off their second album ''Reluctant Hero'' which is set for release on November 20, 2020, via

Nuclear Blast Records Nuclear Blast is a record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label mov ...

. Wall of Sound broke the news after digging up the album's artwork and tracklisting. On October 9, 2020, the band released their second single from the album called "Dream Gone Bad". In an interview with ''Wall of Sound'', bassist

explained why the second album's recording process was kept a secret; "I mentioned to my guys 'every time we get together and work on something, let's just keep it to ourselves' so we don't create any type of buzz or excitement to our small handful of fans." '' Reluctant Hero'' was released in November 20, 2020.

Musical style

Commenting on the writing process of their first album, Cavalera told '' Decibel'' that the record will be "politically charged" and that the composition will be a merging of styles of each of its members. In a press release, Puciato characterizes the style, "It's a bit of Sabbath-y

doom Doom is another name for damnation. Doom may also refer to: People * Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed * Daniel Doom (born 1934), Belgian cyclist * Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitcher * ...

, a bit of

thrash Thrash may refer to: *Thrashing (computer science), where increasing resources are used to do a decreasing amount of work *Thrash (surname) * Thrash, mascot of the Atlanta Thrashers *'' Thrash Rally'', a top-down perspective rally racing video gam ...

, a bit of

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

and

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

" continuing, "Of any of our bands, it sounds the furthest away from mine...", whereas critics have described the band's sound as a progressive form of groove metal, incorporating elements of

melodic metalcore Melodic metalcore is a fusion genre, incorporating elements of melodic death metal and metalcore; it has a heavy emphasis on melodic instrumentation, distorted guitar tones, palm muting, double bass drumming, blast beats, metalcore-stylized br ...

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier p ...

crossover thrash Crossover thrash (often abbreviated to crossover) is a fusion genre of thrash metal and hardcore punk. The genre lies on a continuum between heavy metal and hardcore punk. Other genres on the same continuum, such as metalcore and grindcore, ...

and

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. In ...

Members

;Current members *

– rhythm guitar, vocals (2011–present) *

– bass, vocals (2012–present) *

– drums, percussion (2015–present) ;Live/session members *Juan Montoya – lead guitar (2015, 2020–present) ;Former members *Dave Elitch – drums, percussion (2012–2015) ;Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

Singles and music videos

Accolades

Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards , - , 2015 , , Killer Be Killed , , Best Live Band , ,

References

External links

Official website
* {{Authority control 2011 establishments in California American alternative metal musical groups American groove metal musical groups Heavy metal musical groups from California Heavy metal supergroups Musical groups established in 2011 Musical groups from Los Angeles Musical quintets Political music groups