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Hey! Listen to Blade Killer!

Let’s be honest here for a second: there are many reasons to listen to metal but passion management is a big part of it. No matter how some of

5 years ago

Let’s be honest here for a second: there are many reasons to listen to metal but passion management is a big part of it. No matter how some of us would like to pretty it up (metal journalists especially), one of the core basics of this genre is to channel anger, pain, love, and other emotions in productive and pleasurable ways. I love that; it’s a big reason why I even listen to the music. I’ve always had a temper to me and I feel things fast and bright. Metal is perfect for that; every riff, every snare hit, every scream is geared towards building on that passion and defusing it via catharsis. On the other hand, I’ve been listening to metal for a while now and the mind and heart crave variety; that’s why I listen to new albums and genres, sometimes musical works that deal with things that aren’t so closely tied directly to emotions (though it’s never too far).

One of the big advantages of moving away from things is that you can come back to them. Yes, I know that sounds weird but think about it; one of the best things about travelling is that feeling you get when you come home, a feeling you wouldn’t get if you hadn’t left originally. Thus, moving away from simple, fast, and raw music (or, rather, music that is predominantly all of those things) enables me to come back to it and reignite that passion, all the more powerfully from the time spent away from it. That’s why I love traditional heavy metal; after hours of black, doom, progressive, and the such, I long for galloping drums, fast riffs, and high pitched vocals. The “return” to the music that I started listening to when I was starting to listen to metal and music altogether is a rare pleasure, one which I wouldn’t have without having moved on to other, more nuanced genres.

Enter Blade Killer. They’re called Blade Killer so you can see where we’re going with this; their most recent release High Risk, their debut full length, is as much of an early Iron Maiden worship album as you might want. Just listen to the bass and the solos on the title track; it’s not hard to see where Blade Killer draw their inspiration from. Luckily however, they inject a lot of their own personality on other parts of the album. This leads them to experiment a bit with more expansive and melodic compositions, drawing around the lines so to speak. The end result is an album which is exactly what you were promised with the cover, band name, and album name: a fast, emotional, evocative, and unapologetic romp through the heavy metal I grew up on. Much like Haunt, Blade Killer put their head down, pour tons of passion and care into their music, and make sure to never repeat a riff, solo or drum fill for more than one track. What else do you need? Up the horns!

High Risk releases on November 23rd. Make sure to head on over to the Bandcamp link below to pre-order it. Reminder that young and underground bands deserve your support and their music deserves your compensation. We’re all in this together.

Eden Kupermintz

Published 5 years ago