[kj] Another positive review:

Rob Horan Rob at westwoodassociates.co.uk
Fri Oct 1 10:44:41 EDT 2010


I love his opening sentence……



From: gathering-bounces at misera.net [mailto:gathering-bounces at misera.net] On Behalf Of Alex Smith
Sent: 01 October 2010 15:43
To: A list about all things Killing Joke (the band!); Gathering Gathering
Subject: Re: [kj] Another positive review:



Ha. A friend of mine wrote that.



Alex in NYC



-----Original Message-----
From: Rheinhold Squeegee
Sent: Oct 1, 2010 9:33 AM
To: Gathering Gathering
Subject: [kj] Another positive review:

http://www.craveonline.com/entertainment/music/article/killing-joke-absolute-dissent-113189


Killing Joke: Absolute Dissent



A strong contender for album of the year has arrived.

by Iann Robinson
Sep 30, 2010









Killing Joke is the sun by which so many shadow bands get their power. Artists ranging from Neurosis to Godflesh, to Helmet, and even Nirvana have sited Killing Joke as a massive influence and while remaining influential Killing Joke have never become passé.



The band’s new studio album Absolute Dissent, their first in four years, is a testament to the revolutionary spirit, and musical edge, that keeps Killing Joke so relevant. What do you do when you’re album catalog runs the gamut from electronica to metal, to weird pop and tribal work? If you’re Killing Joke you combine it all into an album that simply can’t be stopped.



This is the first time the original line up of Killing Joke have worked together in twenty eight years, something you could never tell from the sounds coming through the speakers. Jaz Coleman sounds like the frenetic preacher chosen to bring about the end of civilization, Geordie’s guitar is a small world unto itself, ranging from buzz saw tones to thick, layered textures. Youth’s bass is pummeling and Big Paul Ferguson brings back a crushing punk vibe the band hasn’t had in a long time.



The opening title track is a bastard hybrid of metal and apocalyptic chaos being controlled by a hymn-like chorus belted out by Coleman. This song is a mission statement, alluding to world direction, geopolitics, society’s breakdown and all the other themes present through out Absolute Dissent. It’s a call to arms and the tracks that follow give you music to march to, music to move.



“The Great Cull” delves into the world of the purposeful poisoning of humanity for purposes of control and does it with sickly powerful music that bends punk and low-end music into a violent catastrophe. A full on attack to what’s being done to our Earth for profit, “The Great Cull” is a catchy but of pure rage. When Coleman sings, “they all fall down” you can feel his urgency.



Never one to rest on their laurels Killing Joke decide to bring back their early eighties choppy, industrial meets epic rock vibe with “Fresh Fever From The Skies”. Besides being one of the best song titles this year, “Fresh Fever From The Skies” winds several of Geordie’s telltale guitar tones into one pummeling, face bashing, punch.



From there Killing Joke decide to pepper the upbeat catchy rock number “In Excelsis” with soaring keyboards. I defy anybody to listen to this song and not chant the title in the same mantra style as Coleman does. His voice here is absolutely hypnotic.



You can go track by track on Absolute Dissent and the styles never repeat, nothing ever sounds like anything else and yet the entire album is completely Killing Joke. The first single “European Super State” is a House, Dance and Punk song that’s incredibly commercially viable but also fits in against the harder edges of the record. Absolute Dissent is so dense, so intricately structured and filled with so much passion, it sounds like the work of a batch of new young punk kids, not seasoned thirty-year veterans.



Easily the emotional apex of Absolute Dissent is “The Raven King”, a majestic, beautiful, and epic tune that, according to Coleman, is not so much about late Killing Joke bassist Paul Raven, but more about the things Raven believed in. Coleman and Killing Joke never take the easy way out and some sappy ode to a fallen comrade just isn’t them. “The Raven King” is a celebration of what drove one of the most influential musicians in the world. When Coleman hits the chorus it will send chills through your body. That is unless you have no soul.



It’s impossible to review Absolute Dissent without mentioning “This World Hell”, a song that feels like the band decided to play at half-speed so Coleman could rage at a slower, meaner, rate. Coleman rants about one of his longtime passions, that of the food supply and how corporations are controlling it. I also have to toss into the mix the spacey, bass driven song “Ghosts Of Ladbroke Grove”. This is an exercise in the kind of weird soundscapes and audio manipulation that has always driven Killing Joke. May I suggest listening to this one when you’re really, really high?



Killing Joke albums are always a passionate release of entropy. With every album the band breaks down what it’s done before, dismisses it, and then reinvents itself. On Absolute Dissent they’ve done that with their entire career. Coming full circle with the original lineup has given the band a perspective and Absolute Dissent is them tossing all they’ve done into the fire, melting it and pouring it into a new mold. For any who doubt, this album is proof that Killing Joke is a force of nature, not just a band. They can do anything, be anything, move into any place they want and always stay ahead of the curve.



Call off the dogs everybody; the best album of 2010 is here.

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