[kj] Positive 8/10 "Pylon" review in Classic Rock: FYI

[Peter Moltesen]

"air punching stadium rockers..." yuck!

Fair sends a shiver down the spine

 

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Sent: 02 October 2015 19:46
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Subject: [kj] Positive 8/10 "Pylon" review in Classic Rock: FYI

 

https://www.teamrock.com/reviews/2015-10-02/killing-joke-pylon


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Killing Joke: Pylon - TeamRock

The original line-up release their 16th album, the third in a 'triptych'.

 <https://www.teamrock.com/reviews/2015-10-02/killing-joke-pylon> Read
more...

 

The original line-up release their 16th album, the third in a 'triptych'. 

'Our time has come!' declares Jaz Coleman on opener Autonomous Zone. Which
is a somewhat strange declaration from a band whose time was generally
considered to have been the late 70s/early 80s.

But then Killing Joke, Coleman in particular, were always of an apocalyptic
predisposition; it has probably come as a surprise to them that Western
civilisation had survived unscathed this far into the 21st century and
humanity has not been reduced to a pack of survivors poking about in
irradiated ashes.  

Still, with the times presently turbulent geopolitically, as reflected upon
in tracks like New Cold War, there is always the chance that Coleman and co
will be vindicated in their heavy-duty pessimism this time round. 'Is this
the winter of humankind?' asks Coleman on I Am The Virus, perhaps a touch
hopefully.

In the meantime, there's much to enjoy about Pylon, not least on the
punitive, jet-black musical side of things. Autonomous Zone is more than a
return to the Joke at their gale-force finest - it reminds of what came in
their wake, as if they have been strengthened by feasting on the fruit from
their own black tree. Machine-like and remorseless, with an attendant mulch
of electronics, it recalls groups like The Young Gods and Nine Inch Nails,
the industry that grew up in Killing Joke's wake.

The album stretches to 15 full tracks - 16 including Snakedance, a
Rattlesnake dub remix by Youth (who went on to work with former Killing Joke
roadie Alex Paterson in The Orb), which is full of spectacular drops and
vistas. It suggests the culmination of a head of steam that began with
previous albums MMXII and Absolute Dissent.

The black-sky riffing of Dawn Of The Hive and Panopticon show that they
gather up a fast-paced storm like no one else of their era, and, as so many
to have emerged from the post-punk scene, they have utterly refused to
mellow with age.

Yet as the title of Euphoria suggests, as well as the Gothic portentousness,
there is a soaring, epic quality about much of Pylon that reminds of U2 and
The Cure at their big, early best, even bringing to mind The Teardrop
Explodes.

Had they been of a more conciliatory, upbeat temperament, maybe Killing Joke
could have had an alternative career as air-punching stadium rockers. As it
is, you can expect their upcoming gigs to be packed to the rafters. Their
time has never really gone away.  

FINAL VERDICT: 8/10 

 

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