By DJ Monk
Formed in 2011, Danish hard rockers The KillerHertz – not to be confused with the Norwich thrash act (or even the Brighton DNB one) of a similar nomenclature – have not exactly been prolific in their output, having released just two albums (which both featured the mixing talents of Flemming Rasmussen) to date. Now, three years down the line from the most recent of those offerings, they present us with this latest, much shorter opus of just four tracks.
The quartet – made up of frontman Thomas Trold, the cunningly-nicknamed Kent KillerHertz on drums, guitarist Jonas Roxx and bassist Jakob Nielsen, unashamedly wear their collective influences on their sleeves, openly drawing on the classic Eighties and Nineties hard rock/metal sound, mixed with the sort of modern twist that countrymen such as Volbeat have brought to mix. Ironically, for a band who also openly profess to being massive fans of the likes of Metallica and Megadeth, they also claim that there is “no need to go 1000 miles an hour” on the mid-paced hard rockin’ opener and title track, ‘Innocent Sinners’. What this does serve to do is to show that these particular KillerHertz can craft a decent, thoughtful song, combining power and energy with a great sense of melody, combined with infectious hooks, which definitely last longer than the first cursory listen.
Lead single ‘Ill Addictive Romance’ is somewhat poppier, but still driven by a powerful beat, and helps to showcase the diversity of Trold’s vocals, as he especially stretches the upper end of his register, before heading off into somewhat darker territory with the more melancholy ‘Foodchain Victim’, which despite its density still manages to retain an innate punkishness that makes it sound fresh and vibrant as it sounds its indictment of the gullibility of large sections of a modern society so hooked on the power of social media and perceived truths rather than the search for the reality of the situation.
On the Danish version of the EP, closer ‘Kom Tilbage Nu’ is actually the lead track, but the running order has been changed for the international editions: perhaps it was deemed too commercially dangerous to lead off with a song in their native language. We’ll have none of that nonsense, however, as music is a universal language, no matter tongue in which it is interpreted or presented, and ‘Kom…’ is a real pumphouse of a power popper, driven by a massive bass riff and topped off with Trold’s most acidic performance of the four recorded here.
I must admit, I had not been electrified by The KillerHertz before now, but this pleasant EP has made me want to explore their back catalogue a little further and find out a bit more about what makes this particular rock ‘n’ roll machine tick.
- ‘Innocent Sinners’ is out now. You can get your copy HERE.
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