A Killers Confession- Victim 3
A Killers Confession- Victim 3
MNRK Heavy
Release date: 13/11/26
Review by Jon Deaux
7.5/10
A sleazy heavy metal murder musical that has the gall to string up the very hero we have cheered on throughout its duration. Grungy and gleeful, and with enough self-awareness, it’s the soundtrack of the nicest man in rock committing terrible crimes on paper.
Waylon Reavis sticks around with Mushroomhead for over a decade, gets out, and spends another decade creating an opus of three albums where the villain is a serial killer who kills nothing but evil men. Because here’s the plot twist that he’s built up all six albums to – it is wrong to kill people. He had us all along for two entire albums while he committed his vigilante slaughter-fest, and when he finished he got in front of us and was all “Well, you might have agreed with him, but he was still wrong!” Dude, I was born in Eastbourne. Morality consists entirely of “He was asking for it, but also I won’t help you hide the body.”
But he gets some credit from me, as I am not some kind of psychopathic fiend. He got a truly ballsy way of wrapping up things. Most other concept albums would send their villain off into the sunset on a guitar solo. This one sends their villain to the electric chair, gives him no flowers to put in his coffin, and sees his body shutting down while listening to a beautiful harmony telling him that he doesn’t deserve to live. That’s hardcore. That is the album reaching out to you – the guy who spent two albums cheering for this murderer – and reminding you, ” Hey, I noticed that.” That’s getting your hands dirty.
The first single from the set comes from a cover of “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd. Take some time to ponder that. The logic behind this is that it’s the last song running around inside the mind of the killer as he awaits his execution. And my problem is this: it’s the most hilarious, blackest concept from the entire trilogy, and it’s easily the coolest. Think of your final thought before going into the next life being the same synth-pop hit that won’t leave your brain alone. Not Death Row but Tesco. Hell but with good lyrics. I’ve had other songs on loop without being about to receive lethal injection.
Finally, there’s “Meat Hook,” which, for a start, is groovy and bouncy, and then, presumably fearing you didn’t understand that, he tells you it’s groovy and bouncy again. And he loves being groovy and bouncy, as well as bouncing. It’s an absolute romp of a song about a man having the time of his life doing something awful – in a bouncy groove. Because you can dance to this and that’s the beauty of it. As you’re head banging, along with an enthusiastic murder. And that’s when the record catches you unawares, with the bill. I’ve seen some comedy acts attempt that before – it usually lands them in court.
Problems with this record? Yes, the concept album is a story driven album so unless you have some fore-knowledge going in you’ll need the press release for programme notes; the “bury me six feet” line is a bit unsubtle, like having a brick hit you through the window. But you don’t go to a sleaze metal murder opera for subtlety any more than you go to a wake for the food. Except, there are some Scottish wakes I’ve been to where the food wins out.
This was the thing that actually caught my attention. As I had read the synopsis, and sitting here as a bloke who makes funny jokes (debateable) about death, only to realize that the writer of the book has worked with kids at a treatment center. Also a victim advocate for child trafficking; ran a Toys For Tots concert for ten consecutive years. Here is a guy who does real good work during daytime but goes back and writes an in-depth, psychological account of a sociopath. And surprisingly, I feel that is reassuring. In any room, the nicest guy has the darkest notebook. It’s the guys who say, “Oh no, I am good. I have nothing inside that would make me evil.” They have a freezer in their garage and their hobbies are also quite interesting.
Not a reinvention, and certainly nothing that will win converts from outside of the cult. Yet as the denouement to a ten-year undertaking, it finishes strong and has the chutzpah to exact justice upon the character you’ve been rooting for. If you stop and think about it, it’s perhaps the most straightforward thing a rock group has done in ages. After all, they simply want you to purchase their merchandise.
TRACKLISTING:
01. The One
02. Meat Hook
03. Roses
04. Sick Condition
05. Blinding Lights
06. Sinners
07. Guillotine
08. Undertow
09. Never Alone
10. Pull Me Under
11. Worth Saving
LINKS:
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