New Music Review: A KILLER’S CONFESSION ‘Victim 1’

A KILLER'S CONFESSION 'Victim 1' - COVER PHOTO

Rating: 9.5 / 10 Stars

A KILLER’S CONFESSION is: Waylon Reavis (vocals), JP Cross (bass), Lee Hutt (drums)

REVIEW – Waylon Reavis has always been a shapeshifter. Whether screaming from the guttural void with Mushroomhead or carving his own name into the alt-metal canon with A KILLER’S CONFESSION, he’s never sounded static. But with Victim 1, his fourth studio release under the AKC banner, Reavis doesn’t just evolve—he fractures. This isn’t a reinvention. It’s a rupture.

Released May 4 via MNRK Records, Victim 1 is more than just a concept album. It’s a plunge into the fractured psyche of a vigilante split down the middle—justice on one side, madness on the other. Every song plays like a confession, not just of violence, but of identity. And in true AKC fashion, the emotional weight is as heavy as the riffs.

It begins with “Tongue”, the first track revealed to the world and a clear mission statement. Co-written by Reavis and producer Dusty Boles, it sets the tone with crushing instrumentation and lyrical venom. The video, filmed inside Perry’s Music Museum in Harvard, IL, and featuring AJ Good of The House of Masks, brings the visual side of this conceptual descent to life—raw, disturbing, and deliberate.

The tension stays high with “Sun” and “Greed”, both released September 12, 2024. The former blends melody with menace, while the latter attacks consumer culture through a distorted lens of rage and psychosis. “Voices”—featuring Aaron Nordstrom of Gemini Syndrome—delves into the internal struggle, weaving harmonies and anguish into one of the album’s most sonically dynamic moments.

“Purpose”, dropped in May 2024, slows the descent just long enough to reflect. It’s heavy, yes—but emotional in a way that leaves bruises beneath the skin. The album pivots again with “Martyr”, “Kill Or Be Killed”, and “Filth”, a trifecta of breakdowns, bile, and blistering intent. These are songs that feel like therapy through fire.

But Victim 1 isn’t just about confrontation—it’s about collapse. “Rain” strips everything back to reveal a broken core, while “Wasteland” closes the chapter with scorched-earth introspection. There are no heroes here. Only survivors. Or maybe something less.

Conceptually, Victim 1 functions like a descent into duality—each track a snapshot of a man at war with himself, justice twisting into vengeance, identity breaking under pressure. It’s violent, cinematic, and unnervingly personal. And with Dusty Boles behind the board, the production is razor-sharp without sacrificing atmosphere.

Over the course of four albums (Unbroken, The Indifference of Good Men, Remember, and now Victim 1), AKC has never sounded more focused—or more dangerous. This is Reavis at his most unfiltered. Not just a frontman. A narrator. A character. A cautionary tale.