Review: “Time To Kill Vol II” by Murderess

Exactly a year to the day after its predecessor landed on planet Metal, a sophomore EP titled “Time To Kill Vol II” has been gifted to us by Distrito Federal Brasília based Extreme Metal band Murderess. As with the bands first endeavour it runs to four crushing tracks recorded, mixed and mastered at Orbis Estúdio (Violator, Mandrágora) and continues to explore dark themes such as murder, death, violence and war from a female perspective. The concept and desire for the project was to build new narratives of survival and strength while creating a fresh edge to the genre with a fierce female presence and having done that and them some with the first record, it seems only natural that they’ll repeat it with the second…

Depending where you look you might find Murderess labelled Death, Blackened Death or Extreme Metal but in truth does it really matter? Whichever way you slice the bread, it’s very much still bread at the end of the day. The opening cut of this new collection certainly covers ground that could be considered in all three categories with “Lady Death” Franco offering up some seriously nasty blood gargling vocals over weighty menacing and sinister riffs. Kaipora is credited with the synths which give a Progressive Death Metal touch along with some funky bass lines to the track, that eerie cosmic vibe one hard to shake even if those passages are fleeting. Expansive blackened riffs make “No Father” sound huge, the bass being used like a second guitar in the rhythm section and even getting a solo of its own between the dark passages. The drum sound may not be as thunderous as you might hope but Pedro Fraga is certainly a innovative player, giving us some interesting fills to enjoy as Franco spits her blood and venom. “Baba Yaga” isn’t a Slaughter To Prevail cover, but brutal dark Death Metal track with rampaging blast beats and speedy adrenalized rhythms. For those not in the know, the title refers to a figure from Slavic folklore who is sometimes sometimes portrayed as a fearsome cannibalistic witch or ogress like figure and other times almost like grandmother type figure. Naturally Murderess paint the figure in the former of the two as they bludgeon the discerning listener to death with another savage and sinister performance. Franco almost sounds feral at times on this one so a melodic soundscape that feels like it was cut from a Robert Rodriguez movie with an undercurrent of the supernatural might be the last thing you expect from “Murderess Pt. II“. As a collection this ferociously intense group of songs is one that is very much a statement piece and given its qualities, it wouldn’t surprise if next year held tours with Blood Incantation and a debut album [7.5/10]

Track Listing

1. Lady Death
2. No Father
3. Baba Yaga
4. Murderess Pt. II

“Time To Kill Vol II” by Murderess is out 30th July 2025 via Electric Funeral Records and is available over at bandcamp