''A Higher Form of Killing'' is the second studio album by the metal band,
Intruder. It marks their departure from the
speed metal
Speed metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music that originated in the late 1970s from new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) roots.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' (Berg Publishers, 2007), , p. 31. It is desc ...
sound displayed on their previous album in favor of a thrash metal sound. Unlike their previous album which was recorded as a four-piece band, this album was recorded as a quintet with the addition of Greg Messick on
rhythm guitar
In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...
.
It was originally released in 1989 by
Metal Blade and
Roadrunner Records
Roadrunner Records is a Dutch–American record label focused on Heavy metal music, heavy metal and hard rock music. Founded in the Netherlands in 1980, it is now a division of Warner Music Group and is based in New York City. Formerly seen as ...
, but was reissued on Lost and Found Records in 2005, limited to 1,000 copies.
Its title is taken from a quotation from
Fritz Haber
Fritz Jakob Haber (; 9 December 1868 – 29 January 1934) was a German chemist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918 for his invention of the Haber process, a method used in industry to synthesize ammonia from nitrogen gas and hydrog ...
about the use of poison gas in warfare.
Track listing
#"Time of Trouble" – 00:53
#"The Martyr" – 06:02
#"Genetic Genocide" – 06:03
#"Second Chance" – 06:06
#"
(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" (
Monkees
The Monkees were an American pop rock band formed in Los Angeles in the mid-1960s. The band consisted of Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork. Spurred by the success of ''The Monkees'' television series, they were one o ...
cover) – 03:34
#"Killing Winds" – 06:49
#"The Sentence Is Death" – 07:01
#"Agents of the Dark (M.I.B.)" – 05:30
#"Antipathy" – 00:28
#"Mr. Death" – 4:08
Personnel
;Band lineup
*James Hamilton – vocals
*Arthur Vinett – guitars
*Greg Messick – guitars
*Todd Nelson – bass
*John Pieroni – drums, (lead vocals on "Steppin' Stone")
;Production
*Tom Harding – recording and mixing
*Brad Jones – additional engineering
*Rich Larson, Steve Fastner – cover art
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Higher Form Of Killing, A
1989 albums
Intruder (American band) albums