Victims – Killer

Friday, February 13, 2009

The folks at Deathwish Inc. do it again! This time the Massachusetts label is issuing Killer, the latest full-length from Swedish d-beat terrorists VICTIMS. Fans of Dropdead, Skitsystem, and most of the bands down with Profane Existence will absolutely lap this shit up! There’s nothing fancy here. What you get here are short, driving, and punked up songs that are economic and direct in their intent.

Johan Eriksson delivers each vitriolic lyric with the focused rage they deserve. Jon Lindquist’s guitars thrash forward like nobody’s business, bringing to mind Pete Koller’s (Sick of it All) tone. Another strength of Victims is their penchant for making this stuff still come off catchy. Songs like “No Reason” even have gang chorus parts that are instantly memorable yet absolutely crushing in the same moment. For this North American re-release of Killer, Ryan Patterson (also of the might Coliseum) hands in a classic looking layout that compliments the band’s anarchic spirit. This is the kind of fast punk that will surely also appeal to the death metal hordes.

victims