Band:

Killer

BiografieKILLER was formed in 1980 by PAUL “SHORTY” VAN CAMP (lead guitar & vocals) and FAT LEO (drums), after the split of their previous outfit: MOTHERS OF TRACK. Following a series of auditions they welcomed bass player and second vocalist SPOOKY to the band, decided to remain a power-trio and started rehearsing the songs SHORTY had already written.

KILLER rapidly came to the attention of LEO “ROCKSTONE” FELSENSTEIN, who together with his partner GASTON “STONNE” HOMGREN, and a third partner - who´s name unfortunately fell of the pages of the history books owned a studio somewhere in the countryside, near the town of Aalst, in Belgium. FELSENSTEIN and HOLMGREN had a deal with me; ALFIE FALCKENBACH, under which we would produce records together at their studio, and whereas I would also be responsible for the business side of our affairs, and attempt to get the recordings released by music companies around the world. So when LEO ROCKSTONE only four month´s after KILLER´S formation - finished producing READY FOR HELL, the band´s debut album, I set out to do just that, and quickly landed a deal with WEA, a major record company now known as WARNER MUSIC.

KILLER was one of the first continental bands inspired by the imminent success of the NWOBHM bands such as SAXON, IRON MAIDEN and DEF LEPPARD. Because of the trio-formula, the gruff vocal-style, and later - the pounding double bass drums, they would however forever be compared to MOTORHEAD. In the end the band considered it more of an honor than a nuisance. In other areas KILLER were actually innovators, playing speed-metal, not only “ avant la lettre” but also quite a while before bands like METALLICA broke through with this genre of music. Regardless of volume or speed, SHORTY always made sure that there was a distinguishable anthem-like melody on top of their “wall of sound” .

FAT LEO´S musical tastes and abilities were better suited for Blues Rock than Heavy Metal so in 1981 he gracefully took a bow and surrendered his stool and drumsticks to ROBERT “DOUBLE BEAR” COGEN. LEO however stayed close to the band for many years to come and continued to assist, behind the scenes, in various capacities, wherever and whenever he was needed.

1981 saw the release of WALL OF SOUND on the LARK/ INELCO label where I also worked as marketing manager at that time. The album was another powerful shot in the arm for the band. It sold well everywhere, especially in Germany, and allowed KILLER to tour in most countries of Europe, as well as perform at some significant festivals. KILLER were true “killers” on stage. Anyone who liked KILLER on record simply went out of their skulls when they first experienced them live. Few bands could match the energy and the power (and the volume) of KILLER live on a podium.

By 1982 I had left INELCO and started MAUSOLEUM RECORDS, initially utilizing an office at GAMMA RECORDS, the wholesale and Import-export Company also owned by my friends LEO “ROCKSTONE” FELSENSTEIN and STONNE HOMGREN. The first two albums I released were actually re-releases of READY FOR HELL and WALL OF SOUND for which I had recovered the rights from respectively WARNER and LARK. In 1983 KILLER were back in the studio to record the third album, this time around produced by JOS KLOEK, who had become more or less the in-house producer for many MAUOSLEUM acts. The ambitious SHOCK WAVES was not only a monumental commercial success remaining for a long time MAUSOLEUM´S bestseller, to be eventually only surpassed in sales figures by WARLOCK and FAITHFULL BREATH - but also enjoyed considerable critical acclaim.

KILLER embarked on more tours, even trekking behind the - then still erect - iron curtain. After three successful albums and nearly five years of giving electrifying performances in venues ranging from small smoky biker clubs to huge festivals grounds, KILLER were ready to have their impressive live sound captured on tape for release of a prominent double-live-album to be called STILL ALIVE IN EIGHTY-FIVE! A live performance of epic proportions was recorded by the DIETER DIERKS mobile recording unit at a one-night-only sold-out show at the HOF TER LO hall in Antwerp. During the encore over a hundred ecstatic fans were on stage with the band, braying out the chorus line over the thunderous sound the trio was producing. It was a night to remember.

And remember it we did. Because we had little else left. We had booked additional sessions at ICP studios In Brussels for JOS KLOEK to mix the double album. By that time though ELDORADO ENTERTAINMENT & COMMUNICATIONS, the parent company of the MAUSOLEUM RECORDS label was in serious financial trouble. The 1985 edition of MAUSOLEUM´S annual SHOCKWAVE INTERNATIONAL HEAVY METAL FESTIVAL had been a pecuniary disaster, several distributors had gone bankrupt, the Polish licensee - a state owned record company - owed a us fortune and wouldn´t cough up the money, and last but not least we released a few very expensive records, which although critically acclaimed, proved to be commercial failures. The MAUSOLEUM coffers were empty and we couldn´t pay for the towering studio bill needed to finish the mixes. So eventually only three tracks were ever mixed, and over the years the multi-tracks were lost, destroyed, or recycled. Fortunately for all of us SHORTY always hung on to his precious master-tape copy of those three completed recordings and these exhilarating versions of SHOCK WAVES, IN THE NAME OF THE LAW and KLEPTOMANIA will now finally be released as bonus tracks on the reissued version of the SHOCK WAVES album, part of the re-release program commemorating MAUSOLEUM´S 20th anniversary.

In spite of the collapse of their record label KILLER experienced one more highlight before going into voluntary if temporary retirement; the tour of Poland in 1986, where every night - they played for crowds numbering no less 10.000 enthusiastic fans. Ironically the country that was part of the reason for the downfall of MAUSOLEUM embraced KILLER with open arms at about the exact same time the Courts of Law in Brussels pronounced the bankruptcy of the label. Early 1987 KILLER threw in the towel also.

Later that year SHORTY as VAN CAMP (well it is his real name after all) released a solo album entitled TOO WILD TO TAME on the CNR label. The album sounded as if it could have been KILLER, volume IV, except that PAUL really got all those extra-long “look how good I am” guitar-hero solos out of his system. He must have felt damn good after that!

By 1990 I was back on my feet, and so was KILLER. A year earlier SHORTY and SPOOKY had recruited a new drummer: RUDY SIMMONS and added JAN VAN SPRINGEL as a second guitar player to the line-up, in an attempt to stray from the sound they had been producing for the last ten years. I had found new financial backing and resuscitated the MAUSOLEUM label. So as not to break with tradition I signed KILLER and their brand-new album FATAL ATTRACTION was the first release on the second coming of MAUSOLEUM. By 1991 though I had a major falling out with the financial backers and I was forced to leave the company behind. With no one to conduct their business interests, and crushed between the monotony of the grunge invasion from the States, and the boredom of the shoe-gazing bands from Britain, KILLER once more packed it in.

SHORTY and SPOOKY stuck together until 1999 playing in BLUES-EXPRESS, a (you guessed it) Blues Rock outfit. The last few years SHORTY has been on the road with classic rock outfit BLACKJACK, as well as with GYPSY, a JIMI HENDRIX tribute band.
Personally I think we´re ready for KILLER again what about you?

Quelle: http://www.mausoleum-records.comDiscografieReady for hell (1980/83)






Wall of sound (1981/1983)





Shock waves (1984)





Fatal attraction (1990)









Still alive in eightie - five (never released)






Too Wild to tame (1988)





Broken Silence (2003)

Immortal (2005)



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Reviews

Broken Silence - Cover
Mausoleum war/ ist das kultige belgische Label, das in den Achtzigern neben Killer oder Ostrogoth auch die erste Warlock rausbrachte und auch so dolle Sachen wie Living Death pushte.
Immortal - Cover
KILLER sind seit Ewigkeiten ein Urgestein der belgischen Heavy Metal - Szene und wurden/werden von nicht wenigen Fans kultig verehrt, wozu sicher auch die früher vorhandenen Parallelen zum MOTÖRHEAD -