Cavalera's 2-year supergroup name hunt

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By ( Metal Hammer ) published

He reveals some of the titles Killer Be Killed considered before bassist Troy Sanders found inspiration

Max Cavalera spent two years searching for a name for latest project Killer Be Killed, he's admitted – and when he finally found it, he was concerned someone else might already be using it.

The supergroup consists of Mastodon bassist Troy Sanders, Dillinger Escape Plan guitarist Greg Puciato and former Mars Volta drummer Dave Elitch, alongside Soulfly man Cavalera.

He says: “We struggled with a name for two years. It was painful – people kept asking ‘What’s the name of the band?’

“Greg’s first name was Negative Fox, which is a great name, so punk; but we couldn’t really go for that. I was watching Inglourious Basterds and that gave me the idea of 99 Scalps.”

The second title was abandoned over concerns of racial sensitivity – and from then on Cavalera says the word “Kill” was involved.

“It was Kill for a long time because we looked around and found out there was no band called Kill; there was The Kill but not just Kill. There was always some killing involved – it was the right word for this band.

“Troy suggested Kill Or Be Killed, which we sing on Face Down. In the studio someone switched it to Killer Be Killed.

“It sounded unusual but cool – really odd but really catchy-sounding. We decided, ‘This is the name. Let’s check nobody else has it.’ Nobody else did, so we went with it.

“When Killer Be Killed came in that was it. You know the name when you hear it – there’s something about it.”

The supergroup’s self-titled debut album is released on next week via Nuclear Blast. Discover more about the band and their album.

Tracklist

  1. Wings Of Feather And Wax

  2. Face Down

  3. Melting Of My Marrow

  4. Snakes Of Jehova

  5. Curb Crusher

  6. Save The Robots

  7. Fire To Your Flag

  8. IED

  9. Dust Into Darkness

  10. Twelve Labors

  11. Forbidden Fire

  12. Ghosts Of Chernobyl (vinyl bonus track)

Martin Kielty
Freelance Online News Contributor

Not only is one-time online news editor Martin an established rock journalist and drummer, but he’s also penned several books on music history, including SAHB Story: The Tale of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, a band he once managed, and the best-selling Apollo Memories about the history of the legendary and infamous Glasgow Apollo. Martin has written for Classic Rock and Prog and at one time had written more articles for Louder than anyone else (we think he's second now). He’s appeared on TV and when not delving intro all things music, can be found travelling along the UK’s vast canal network.