Almost totally overlooked during their brief early-'90s existence, Akron, OH's Winters Bane attained sudden and unexpected celebrity a few years later when their singer, Tim "Ripper" Owens, was tapped as Rob Halford's long-sought-after replacement in Judas Priest. The important thing to note, however, is that although their sound certainly qualifies as "classic" heavy metal, Winters Bane was not a mere Priest tribute band -- that would be one of Ripper's other (probably more lucrative) gigs, later on. For one, his vocals were not nearly as obviously inspired by Halford's when heard outside the catalog of the British metal legends -- and, for another, guitarist Lou St. Paul's solitary presence made it impossible for Winters Bane to even attempt emulating Priest's trademark twin six-string assault. As for Heart of a Killer's songs themselves, opening cut "Wages of Sin" (thunder and lightning sound effects and all) is a tad too laborious and overlong, leaving it up to punchier follow-ups like "Blink of an Eye" and the memorable title track (where the singer's alternating use of piercing screams and gravelly growls actually does make him sound like a Halford ringer) to show the band's true worth. Unfortunately, the remainder of the LP doesn't always stack up to these early offerings' standards, weaving inconsistently between impressive highs ("The Silhouette," the nicely immediate "Haunted House") and rather forgettable lows (the poor man's Queensryche of "Reflections Within," the inevitably dull instrumental bearing the band's name) -- while never quite stumbling upon an outright stinker, mind you. Curiously, some of the album's thrashier and more involved compositions ("Horror Glances," "Night Shade," and "Cleansing Mother") actually point the way to the Priest sound heard on Jugulator, ironically enough. Finally worth noting is that all of these tracks mount up to a concept album about a serial killer, whose heart winds up in his sentencing judge's chest, its lyrics predominantly penned by guitarist St. Paul, not Ripper. It's a listening experience of greater historical than necessarily musical interest -- but probably worth pursuing for bona fide Judas Priest fans and underground metal enthusiasts. [Heart of a Killer was reissued in the year 2000 by Century Media, with an added bonus disc made up of live material and a few demos.] ~ Eduardo Rivadavia|

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