Interview by Kris Peters
Following two previous albums - their self titled in 2012 and The Answer in 2018 - New York City rock outfit Killcode found themselves in the unenviable position of being one of the many bands in the massive potential category but still lacking that knockout blow to elevate them further.
That opportunity came knocking when Killcode released their third album Life, Death Rock N' Roll in January of this year, cementing their growing reputation and, if anything, enhancing it even further.
Written before and during COVID, Life, Death, Rock N' Roll is an album made up of songs about life's ups and downs and is bursting at the seams with hard rock classics coupled with deeply personal numbers that show the more human side of the band.
Frontman Tom Morrissey joined HEAVY recently to talk about the new album and the rise of Killcode.
"With this album we weren't really going for anything specifically, as we never really do" he explained. "We just write naturally and whatever comes naturally we go with. We definitely explored more sonically on this album. It's a little more mature. We used some different instrumentation - some piano - but overall in general I think the songwriting is a touch more mature, but it's still straight ahead rock and roll. High energy. You have your rockers, your ballads, some introspective songs, some personal songs and some drinking songs (laughs)."
In the full interview, Tom talks more about the sonic direction of the album, how Killcode has grown musically with each release, the early reception to the album, coming up with inspiration during COVID, doing live-stream concerts and other promotional tools during that period, their cover of You Can't Stop Rock & Roll by Twisted Sister and why they chose that song, the formation of Killcode, their early vision and how it has changed since, touring plans and more.