With Rage Against the Machine gone and most punk outfits wallowing in introversion and self-pity, 2003 is an ideal time for Killing Joke to...... more
With Rage Against the Machine gone and most punk outfits wallowing in introversion and self-pity, 2003 is an ideal time for
Killing Joke to reform and return with this self-titled album. Though it's been seven years since their last effort (1996's Democracy), their protest music has lost none of its edge or anger. And, railing against the crushing power of massive conglomerates, the machinations of oil barons and corrupt governments and the steady erosion of our personal freedoms, Jaz Coleman's concerns have never been more relevant. Beyond this, he's still thankfully blessed/cursed with apocalyptic visions. If the bad guys don't get you, he opines during the driving, menacing "Asteroid", you might yet be vaporised by huge rocks from space. Musically, too, this
Killing Joke line-up belies its collective years. Alongside Coleman stand original members Geordie and Youth, backed up by stalwart Raven and stand-in drummer Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters), all of them contributing to a controlled punky intensity that only lets up with the distorted melodic rock of "You'll Never Get to Me". Grohl, indeed, is outstandingly fierce, perhaps paying the others back for Nirvana's "Come As You Are"--so similar to
Killing Joke's "Eighties". This is raw, powerful stuff that will surely be blaring through the streets at the next gathering of the World Trade Organisation. --Dominic Wills
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