Origin:	USA
Genres:	Traditional Metal

Page online:	November 15, 2007
Last update/review:	March 15, 2011

Killing Machine

Killing Machine might be thought of as the American equivalent of Voodoocult, that being a relatively unknown band, led by a relatively unknown player, but featuring all sorts of big time talent. Here, the leader is Peter Scheithauer, who's not a complete unknown as he's also in charge of Temple Of Brutality and has worked with Joey Belladonna in the past. Here, though, the list of well-known metal names that have appeared on two albums is impressive, spanning such bands as W.A.S.P., Helstar, Megadeth, Agent Steel Loudness, Suicidal Tendencies, and many more. Reviewed here is the second album, 2005's Metalmorphosis, featuring James Rivera, Dave Ellefson, Jimmy DeGrasso, and Juan Garcia alongside Scheithauer. Musically, recent Judas Priest comes to mind, which given that the band name is a Priest song, is probably not surprising. Rivera is simply incapable of a bad performance, and he lets loose with some classic Halford-esque screams as well as a generally powerful performance. This really isn't cutting-edge material, and going for a more 80's retro metal sound isn't all that unusual these days. Metalmorphosis isn't an absolute essential album, but it's solid for the style, and shouldn't disappoint fans of Priest, Rivera, or traditional, hard-edge classic 80's metal. After a long period of quiet, a modified lineup has emerged in early 2011 and a new album is said to be in the works.