| Reluctant Hero | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 20, 2020 | |||
| Studio | Hybrid Studios | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 47:42 | |||
| Label | Nuclear Blast | |||
| Producer | Josh Wilbur | |||
| Killer Be Killed chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Reluctant Hero | ||||
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Reluctant Hero is the second studio album by American heavy metal band Killer Be Killed. It was released on November 20, 2020, by Nuclear Blast. [1]
The band began writing the album in 2016, before going to Hybrid Studios in California in 2018 to record the music. They then finished recording the vocals in 2019. [2]
In an interview, guitarist Max Cavalera discussed the origins of the album cover:
"I'm really happy with how it came out, because I wasn't happy with the first one. I have a lot of these National Geographic magazines at home, and one had a story about haunted places in America. One of them was this cemetery in Cleveland, which has this really cool statue of an angel with a sword. I thought it would look so badass on an album cover — it almost looks like black metal — so I suggested to our label to find someone to go over and take a picture of the statue." [3]
On September 4, 2020, Killer Be Killed announced the release of the album, along with the first single "Deconstructing Self-Construction". [1]
The second single "Dream Gone Bad" was released on October 13, 2020. [4]
On November 6, 2020, the third single "Inner Calm from Outer Storms" was released. [5] In a press release, bass guitarist Troy Sanders said the single is "about having the ability to sense a distant or unseen target. It explores a journey of reckless abandon where the destination may, or may not, actually exist." [6] The single also featured on Consequence of Sound's Top 30 Metal & Hard Rock Songs of 2020. [7]
The fourth single, "From a Crowded Wound", was released on November 20, 2020, the same day as the album release. [8]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Exclaim! | 8/10 [9] |
| Kerrang! |   [10] |
| Louder Sound | [11] |
| Spectrum Culture | 75% [12] |
| Sputnikmusic | 3.2/5 [13] |
Reluctant Hero was met with generally favorable reviews from critics. Aggregator Album of the Year gave the release a 78 out of 100 based on a critical consensus of six reviews. [14]
Max Heilman of Exclaim! said the songs on the release are "elevating poppy ideas with explosive, multilayered musicality and hard-hitting emotion. Reluctant Hero proves metal can be catchy without being stupid." [9]
| Critic/Publication | List | Rank | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consequence of Sound | Top 30 Metal/Hard Rock Albums of 2020 | 21 | [15] |
| Kerrang! | Top 50 Albums of 2020 | 22 | [16] |
| Loudwire | Top 70 Rock/Metal Albums of 2020 | N/A | [17] |
| Revolver | Top 25 Albums of 2020 | 9 | [18] |
All tracks are written by Killer Be Killed
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Deconstructing Self-Destruction" | 4:33 |
| 2. | "Dream Gone Bad" | 4:15 |
| 3. | "Left of Center" | 3:30 |
| 4. | "Inner Calm from Outer Storms" | 3:53 |
| 5. | "Filthy Vagabond" | 3:48 |
| 6. | "From a Crowded Wound" | 7:11 |
| 7. | "The Great Purge" | 4:13 |
| 8. | "Comfort from Nothing" | 4:18 |
| 9. | "Animus" | 1:08 |
| 10. | "Dead Limbs" | 4:48 |
| 11. | "Reluctant Hero" | 6:05 |
Killer Be Killed
Additional personnel
| Chart (2020) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA) [19] | 45 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [20] | 46 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [21] | 52 |
| Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ) [22] | 35 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [23] | 69 |
| US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard) [24] | 16 |
| US Top Album Sales (Billboard) [25] | 47 |
