Ready for Hell

by Eduardo Rivadavia Killer was one of the earliest Belgian heavy metal bands, predating even better known countrymen like Acid and Crossfire by quite a few years with their debut album, Ready for Hell. Upon its release in 1981, the band was often compared with the mighty Motörhead because of their power trio formation, handlebar mustaches and leather biker gear. But, in truth, Killer was equally inspired by any number of more melodically inclined heavy rock bands (Judas Priest, UFO, Thin Lizzy, and even the Sweet, at times), as well as the inescapable New Wave of British Heavy Metal contingent (Saxon, Def Leppard, Iron Maiden, etc.). Theirs was a wide gamut of heavy rock influences, in other words, and so their songs ran the stylistic gamut from the full-throttle likes of the title track, "I Know," and "Backshooter" (this one clearly inspired by the Motörhead's "No Class"), to more measured, commercial-minded rockers like "Killer," "Secret Love," and "Laws Are Made to Break." Killer also took their sound further afield at times, dipping into vintage rock & roll (as one might expect from Boston or Bob Seger) for the aptly named "Rock and Roll Fan," and slow blues forms for "It's Too Late," but all of their efforts still retain an all abiding early-'80s metal aesthetic -- which certainly dates them somewhat, but not in the dreaded, truly decadent, late-'80s sense. Finally, though its immediate successor, 1982's Wall of Sound, was just a tad bit heavier, better-reviewed, and even more cohesive sounding, Ready for Hell's songs have arguably better withstood the test of time in terms of freshness, variety, and immediacy.