Killer

Formed in Antwerp in 1980 around Paul 'Shorty' Van Camp and Ivo 'Spooky' Van Doren, Killer was part of the first wave of Belgian heavy metal with a three-piece line-up drawing energy from hard rock, speed metal and straightforward heavy metal, marked by the imprint of the NWOBHM and a roughness often compared to Motörhead. After Ready for Hell (1981) and Wall of Sound (1982), Killer consolidated its stage identity in Belgium, Germany and at several European festivals, before releasing Shock Waves in 1984, the central album of this first period. The band went through several drummer changes, from Leo Felsenstein to Robert Cogen, while keeping the Van Camp–Van Doren duo at the core of its songwriting and vocals. A live album recorded in 1985, Still Alive in Eighty-Five, was long held back and did not come out as planned due to label-related difficulties. Killer split for the first time in 1987, reformed in 1989 in an expanded lineup and released Fatal Attraction in 1990, before another hiatus in the early 1990s. Revived in the early 2000s, Killer continued its discography with Broken Silence (2003), Immortal (2005) and Monsters of Rock (2015), remaining associated with a Belgian metal scene rooted in the codes of the 1980s.