The Killer
by Shed
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 15 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 15
  3. Negative: 0 out of 15
  1. The Wire
    Dec 5, 2012
    50
    "STP3/The Killer," "Silent Witness," and "I Come By Night" are exceptions, however--somewhere along the line a spark's been snuffed out. [Oct 2012, p.67]
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  2. Pitchfork
    Oct 11, 2012
    74
    The Killer works slightly better than either of its predecessors as an album, with the promise of what is to come relieving the earlier stretches of some of their grimness. The gaseous (and Gas-eous) ambient interludes, too, are perfectly sequenced, offering soothing counterpoints to the album's most pummelling efforts.
  3. Beats Per Minute
    Aug 28, 2012
    77
    It's the producer's most immediate album and tightest display to date.
  5. Q Magazine
    Aug 20, 2012
    80
    It's narcotic, claustrophobic and brilliant. [Sep 2012, p.98]
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  6. The Boston Phoenix
    Aug 14, 2012
    75
    Crafted with worn elements of the electronic cannon, his third LP as Shed doesn't offer much that's fresh. Rather, it's nostalgia and recontextualization that drive this effort.... [Yet songs, I Come By Night, You Got the Look, and Follow the Leader] are all indicative of mastery.
  7. Exclaim
    Aug 14, 2012
    80
    There is a comprehensive exploration of musical avenues and ideas, as well as a pleasing juxtaposition of an overarching concept and sound design.
  8. Mixmag
    Aug 14, 2012
    80
    The result is skull-crushing, claustrophobic and wonderful.
  9. Sputnikmusic
    Aug 14, 2012
    60
    While it still sounds fresh it's still wearing the same threads, still talking in the same voice and moving in exactly the same way.
  10. Uncut
    Aug 2, 2012
    70
    The Killer is a rich and immersive experience. [Sep 2012, p.85]
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  11. Resident Advisor
    Jul 27, 2012
    80
    The Killer seems to reveal a pattern on Pawlowitz's part, yet it somehow remains every bit as viscerally captivating as his best material, a formula still as cryptic as it ever was.
  12. Clash Music
    Jul 25, 2012
    70
    The withdrawals into ambient cusps test something of a pleasure-pain theory, and to Shed's credit the bombshells rarely follow the same pattern - a four-by-four here, a hop and skip there, seeing him scooping up arenas with a tremendously powerful iron fist.
  13. BBC Music
    Jul 24, 2012
    80
    With The Killer, Shed hasn't reinvented the wheel, but he has captivated us with his sonic mottle, daubed onto the classic edifice of techno's irresistible structures.
  14. Dusted Magazine
    Jul 24, 2012
    80
    It succeeds, unequivocally, as usual.
  15. Fact Magazine (UK)
    Jul 24, 2012
    60
    The fact is, what we're presented with here isn't filler exactly, but it's certainly not killer either.
  16. New Musical Express (NME)
    Jul 24, 2012
    80
    The Killer starts out monumentally grave, but by its close the sunlight is flooding in.

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