Review
Killing Joke
MMXII

Think to yourself briefly and see if you can think of more than a handful of bands that have existed for nearly 30 years. Now think of how many of those bands have not only managed to stick to their own sound but also progress within their given sound consistently within that time. How many bands fit within those guidelines? Maybe one or two? Well it would easy to claim Killing Joke as one of those bands. They, in one fell swoop, managed to create the Industrial music genre and progress beyond it utilizing modern techniques and ideas to move forward.

This album acts as Jaz Coleman's paean to the, then upcoming, apocalypse. Using this time to both decry the idea and the issues of the world from song to song. Being that Coleman has never seemed one to shy away from any politically based screeds this is of little surprise. Meanwhile the band play their songs as if there is no tomorrow to be found. Humanity is ending and it seems Killing Joke have taken it upon themselves to be the pied pipers of the end times.

Starting with the near 10 minute slow burner "Pole Shift with see the band build the structure up until there seems to be no choice for it to falter. Meanwhile Jaz alternates between demonic preacher and crazed streetwalking soothsayer. The lyrics read towards the idea of "the world is burning down, who fucking cares?" For the sake of proof here is a brief sample:

It doesn't really matter if the south turns north
Or the stars above stop in their course
If ten thousand coastal cities are taken by the wave, or not
The outcomes are still the same (for all of us now!)


this gives you a general idea of what you are to encounter. Meanwhile next on the record we have the song "Fema Camp" deriding the FEMA related situation in New Orleans and wrestling with the idea that, because of governments' lack of humanity, this can and will happen again. The pervading ideas of this record read similarly as they tread upon ideas both relating to the apocalypse as well as the myriad of ways both government and humanity as a whole could bring it about.

The band use their experience and intelligence to great measure here making the songs flow and build making for a strong overall album that feels like a complete work. Where most bands would be content to rest on their laurels, especially with their age and prior accomplishments, Killing Joke seems to be unconcerned by such ideas. They continue on relying on their proven abilities and still unresolved concerns in life.