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As the frontman and mastermind for A Killer's Confession,

Waylon Reavis has delved into the light and dark sides of

mankind on albums like The Indi erence of Good Men and

Unbroken. But it is his current Victim trilogy where he delves

deeper into that concept and which truly lives up to the

band's name. The new album Victim 2 (MNRK Heavy), the

group's fi fth studio release, continues the story of a serial

killer who wants to bring horrifi c criminals to justice. But,

as he's learning, there are consequences for his misguided

deeds, even if he thinks they are the right thing to do.

"I write this stu for people to understand that we all have these

thoughts," Reavis says. "Like the devil's advocate - you've

always got that devil on your shoulder, or that impulse, that little

scratch on the side of your head that says, I want to do that. I've

always been intrigued with that."

Reavis found further inspiration in the 2001 horror movie Frailty,

in which the "God's Hand" serial killer murders people that he

believes to be demons and that he is doing God's will. The

antagonist of the Victim trilogy follows a similar path. In Victim

1, he went after people who had committed one of the Seven

Deadly Sins, particularly those preying on young, innocent

victims. In this sequel, he is reveling in his murder spree too

much and faces a crisis of conscience.

As in his previous band Mushroomhead, Reavis dons a mask

onstage. "It's not just a gimmick. I'm showing you what's on the

inside, but at the same time it's what the fans want from me," he

explains, "I'm putting the mask on because I'm trying to explain

who the character really is."

Victim 2 kicks o in bristling fashion with "Hopeless Grey"

and "In Case Of Emergency," but as the story progresses the

collection of songs explores di erent musical territory. Victim 2

shows how A Killer's Confession likes to blend genres, notably

on the track "Hollow."

Throughout Victim 2, the dark inner voices plaguing the

murderous vigilante emerge in pitch-shifted fashion to distinguish

them from his "normal" self. The unexpected cover of Nirvana's

"Heart Shaped Box" halfway through the album signals a turning

point for the killer as he starts re-evaluating his humanity. The

closing track wraps things up in an epic, melodic fashion