The 1981 Listening Post - Killer (BE) - Ready for Hell

 Reviewed by Jim Coursey

Released: 1981 Killer (BE) Ready for Hell Genre: Heavy Metal Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Highlights: Ready For Hell I Know Summer, 1981. With the New Wave of Belgian Heavy Metal on the ascendancy, Shorty, Spooky and Fat Leo were sweating through the seventeenth take of “Crazy Circus” in Affligem’s Dig-It studio. The Belgian trio were aware that members of Switzerland’s Kaktus had reformed as Killer and were due to release their debut album by year’s end. There had been an escalating war of words between the two acts of the same name, peaking when partisans of the Belgian band jumped their Swiss rivals outside of a Lucerne metal bar, leaving the Swiss band’s guitarist with a fractured rib. The stakes couldn’t be higher, the album had to be a hit. Their current track wasn’t coming together – maybe it wasn’t their best number anyway – and would ultimately be left on the cutting room floor. They would just have to hope that the songs they already had in the can would be enough. Ok, that story is made up; only the names have been preserved to implicate the innocent. I’m not a metal guy, and the Wikipedia bio is pretty drab. But there were two heavy metal bands called Killer, one in Belgium and one in Switzerland, who released their debut albums in 1981. So tell me… how else would it have gone down? I was ‘ready for hell’ when I started listening, but was relieved to hear the Mötörhead-esque title track. I don’t expect these guys were doing anything especially unique, but they pulled it off pretty well. The best here is the chugging, galloping, speedy music just over the metal border from punk, boasting notes of Mötörhead (especially when the vocals are gruffer) and Priest. There’s plenty of energy throughout, and the first five tracks would probably make for a fine listen for fans of the genre. (Much of Side 2 was unmemorable.) As for themes, I have a hard time making a lot of the lyrics out, between the gravelly delivery and unrefined accent. The album cover depicts the typical “sexy women are turned on by being stabbed in the neck” kind of fare, while the track “Killer” exposes that vocalist Shorty’s “baby” is the real killer. Tasteless, but then there’s always someone pushing it further. Spies for the Swiss rivals got a glimpse of the Belgians’ promo cover, and knew they needed to react. In a bid to one-up the Belgians, Switzerland’s Killer was convinced to change their album title from “Get Up, Get Down” to “Ladykiller,” and replace their cover with an “after” version of the Belgian’s art. The Belgians had shied away from showing an actual killing, so the Swiss took it to the “next level,” with the model lying dead on a bed, blood streaming from her open mouth. When both albums finally saw the light of day, the Belgians were initially furious and figured they’d lost the round. But while record stores showed the good sense of censoring the Swiss album cover, the Belgians’ album was plastered across shop windows, making them the talk of the town from Brussels to Bern. Ok, that last story is made up too, but the description of the covers is real. So tell me… how else would it have gone down? (Swiss Killer notes courtesy of Rod Brogan's review.)