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Product Description
Review
It’s quite astounding to note that despite recently celebrating the 30th anniversary of their self-titled debut, no one has bothered writing the Killing Joke biography. As rock stories go it takes some beating. Formed in west London at the end of the 1970s and using the forge of punk to meld strands of goth, dub, metal and industrial into a new whole, they were to become one of the most influential rock bands of the last three decades. And one of the most vilified. The chaotic and turbulent affairs of the group’s first incarnation excited people as much as the revolutionary tribal music that they vomited into existence. Like Norwegian black metal outfit Mayhem, they were one of the few extreme groups who actually lived up to their name.
In a self-inflicted haze of occultism and LSD mania, the band celebrated the release of their second album (What’s THIS For...!, 1981) by declaring that Armageddon was imminent before moving to Iceland to sit it out. This was the end of the line for KJ mark one, and temporarily for their bass player Youth, who was sectioned to a psychiatric hospital. Well, it was the end of the line until recently. In 2007 the four original members met at the funeral of long-term Killing Joke bassist Paul Raven and decided to record together again.
To be fair, the band already had a very solid platform to build Absolute Dissent, their 13th album, on. The KJ renaissance began in earnest with their second self-titled album of 2003 (featuring Dave Grohl on drums), and this continues the trend. The trademarks of their sound, the striking vocals of Jaz Coleman and the simultaneously serrated and danceable guitar riffs of Geordie are here, but these are supplemented by the dubbed-out, aqueous bass wobble of Youth and the metronomic drumming of Paul Ferguson. All of which have gelled excitingly and convincingly on some of the most anthemic tracks that they have written, In Excelsis a particular standout.
Coleman especially has never sounded in better form. His voice is an organic monument of terror on the strident Depth Charge, yet sedate and touching on an elegiac The Raven King. Youth, an avowed studio experimenter, has introduced the band to Auto-Tune, which is befitting given their earlier experiments with disco, house and techno. They easily manage to step out from the long shadow cast by their own first two albums on this close-to-genius release. And even though there is a hint of the 1980s (Here Comes the Singularity) here and a touch of Pssyche (Fresh Fever from the Skies) there, this is KJ at their distressingly original best.
--John DornaFind more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absolute Brilliance,
By mike32514 "mike32514" (United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Absolute Dissent (Audio CD)
I've been lucky enough to hear a preview of this album, and am simply stunned. It is the best thing I've heard this year by by miles. Actually for several years. Every track is superb. It really demonstrates what peerless songsmiths Killing Joke are. It is up there with the very best of their previous output and as a complete work is probably their finest. Buy this as soon as it's released. I will be...
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Killing Joke album I've been waiting for for years,
This review is from: Absolute Dissent (Audio CD)
This album has just blown me away. After my disappointment with Hosannas and (I have to admit) the 2003 album as well, this will for me be one of their most definitive pieces of work. It's just about all there, nearly all the combined strengths of the band, drawing on their large canon of work from the last three decades.I say nearly. Paul Ferguson's tribal drumming that so characterised the distinctive Killing Joke sound of the 80s is only hinted at, but this isn't a negative. It's still powerful in its raw style and, together with Youth's bass, keep most tracks thundering along from start to finish. Like Hosannas, there are a lot of tracks between 5 and 6 minutes long but unlike that previous album where I began to wish one or two of the tracks would just end, here they sit just fine. Of course, this is in no small part to do with the welcome return of Jaz Coleman's anthemic singing which made both the Night Time/BTATS and Pandemonium/Democracy 'eras' such great times for Killing joke fans. Thankfully too, Geordie has taken a step or two back from the simple 'thrash' guitar of the previous two records (where I thought he was completely wasting his unique talents) and in some parts returned to the 'classic' Killing Joke sound - check out the fantastic Eighties-style Here Comes the Singularity. On some tracks the thrash is still there mind, as is Jaz's bellow, but this time around they are fused with the equally dissonant sound of the first three albums. Oh, we have joy indeed! With tracks like Fresh Fever From the Skies, Absolute Dissent and in particular Depthcharge we hear (or at least I hear) the colliding of the two eponymous albums, or Revelations vs. Hosannas. Throw in a bit of European Super State trance and Ghosts of Ladbroke Grove dub and you have Killing Joke's most eclectic album to date. I don't have the musical jargon at my disposal to properly give justice to this album, but I can't think that there will be many Killing Joke fans from either the 80s, 90s or 2000s that will be disappointed with this latest offering (except maybe those who swear by Outside the Gate). Brilliant. Uplifting. Stick the Raven King on loud and you'll know exactly what I mean. Sublime, just sublime. Back to their best? Only time will tell, but I for one have all ready decided.
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE MUSICAL EQUIVALENT OF LOOKING INTO THE FACE OF GOD!,
By
This review is from: Absolute Dissent (Audio CD)
I've been a joke fan for 25years.But every album they have made has momments of brilliance,but also a few tracks that ,for me were not really up to the mark! I've loved every album since Nightime, but there has always been filler tracks that have made listening to the whole album a slightly less than perfect experience. That is up untill now!This album is powerful, passionate and euphoric.There is not a single track on this album that is not perfect. LISTEN TO IT LOUD! IT'S LIKE HOLDING THE HAND OF THE DEVIL WHILST LOOKING INTO THE FACE OF GOD! AMAZING!
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