REVIEW: A Killer's Confession - Victim 2

Victim 2 is the fifth album by Ohio-based band A KILLER’S CONFESSION, following up 2024’s Victim 1. This time the killer is returning to share remorse, his righteous kills having turned into an indiscriminate murder spree after his first murder.

The album begins with the track Hopeless Grey, an upbeat entrance that immediately sets a strong tone. It’s a strong combination of drums, vocals and the sort of electronic guitar that heavily reminds us of early 2000s alternative music videos - the kind where bands are superimposed onto CGI cityscapes with a strong emphasis on primary colours and the sort of early century cyber-futurism that has since become its own nostalgic subculture. 

This is reflective of lead band member WAYLON REAVIS’ own creative process. The former MUSHROOMHEAD vocalist says that when it comes to genre: “I don't like doing the same thing over and over... I like to experiment. I like to try to invent something new, take something that you know and mix it with modern metal. I'm not trying to create a new genre, but I like to be challenged and hear new things. If it rings in the ears and it makes you bob your head, it's good. It don't matter what style it is. I think a true artist should be interested in expanding themselves and where they can do anything they want. That's where AKC really excels.”

A similar sound can also be heard on later tracks Hollow and The Suffering. But the next song on the album is In Case of Emergency. Which immediately pivots the listener back into the realm of more traditional metal. We pick back up with intensive vocals, raw sound and aggressive guitar followed by, around the two minute mark, a shout and sudden pensive silence. While this song has a similar mix of ‘light and dark’ to Hopeless Grey, it plays with extremes instead of layering the two which forces more listener attention.

After this, we take another turn to the retro through Hollow’s emphasis on electronic-sounding vocals and synths, before arguably the best track on the album, Facts. Facts has a strong instrumental and a ridiculously fun hook in a repeated growl of “I BRING YOU FACTS”. It feels like a perfect pit song, and immediately brings up the energy, particularly when it comes to the bridge:

“Eye to eye / The facts don't lie

My principles are carved in stone / To each their own

I testify / On which I'll die

My principles are carved in stone / To each their own”

Overall the ideal song for amping yourself up for a particularly intense gym workout.

Next up is by far the most popular track to come out of the Victim 2 project so far, AKC’s cover of NIRVANA's Heart Shaped Box. This is, fortunately or unfortunately, by far the best song on the album. The cover allows the space for the whole band to display their technical prowess in a way that feels almost as good as the original, giving the track a definite A KILLER’S CONFESSION spin while still paying homage to one of the most influential bands in history. 

The second half of the album post-Heart Shaped Box is more similar sounding. While there are some stand-out moments such as the high energy vocals of Headstone; interesting horror movie sounding chimes in Baptized by the Fire; incredibly impressive drums in Darkside. Many feel like callbacks to previous tracks. Headstone has another pensive (if not more upbeat) bridge around two minutes in; Darkside has a repetition of “hate” and “fate” that feels similar to the earlier track Facts, while The Suffering as mentioned earlier calls back to the 2000s synthy sound found on Hopeless Grey. 

Towards the end, Endless Silence has some of the best lyrics across the album:

“Looking at the floor, this is something that we've done before

Lock and load, I'll go to war, it's something I've been waiting for

And I'm sure that my bullets never miss

Now we stand and we look at the dark abyss”

However, it feels like the choice to sing rather than rap is a missed cross-genre opportunity. Finally the album finishes with Hand of God, a pensive summary of the album’s main themes and reflections.

As a standalone project it’s a 6, almost 7. But if held at gunpoint and forced to consider it in context of the story AKC are trying to tell, then it’s a 5. It’s a solid album with enough feel-good fight songs to keep the lights on at the most moderate of metal bars, but falls a bit short of selling us on a deep and meaningful narrative about a murderer.

Score: 5/10

Victim 2 was released on September 19th 2025 via MNRK Heavy.

Words: Q Cummins

Photos: A Killer's Confession