Killing Joke (UK)
"The Joke" is not just a band. It is a life's work for the shouter/singer/keyboardist Jaz Coleman and the guitarist Geordie Walker. The wastage rate for drummers and bass guitarists in the band has been slightly higher, but no dilettanti have been recruited for these vacancies either. The band's original bassist Martin Glover is now better known as Youth (having produced albums for Guns'n'Roses, The Verve, U2 and Depence Mode) and the drummer for the 2003 comeback album was a promising musician named Dave Grohl.
Killing Joke's first record came out as early as 1980 and it was one of the very first post-punk, or new wave, albums. These days this style is apparently called goth rock. But the goth rock of today and the fooling around with black lipstick and leather trousers is miles away from this stuff. This is because Killing Joke's songs are truly magnificent. And truly harrowing.
Killing Joke's music takes one to a state of mind that's hard to describe. It is like hell with no end. Or like an orgasm with no end, and no beginning. The band is simply masterful in their grinding on one riff or idea for minutes and minutes, while Coleman's hypnotic singing tells stories that you would rather not hear. Resistance is futile, you're hooked, and once the song or the album is over you want to hear more. This is exactly where Killing Joke's genius is: in their capacity to hypnotize, and to write their skilled metallic guitar riffs. Sometimes you may even be hit with a chorus, but don't come expecting sweet, sunny pop. Whatever Killing Joke says, or shouts, is spot on. This is not background music for a candlelit dinner. This is music for boozing or fucking.
Bands like Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, Foo Fighters and Metallica owe a lot to Killing Joke. The bass line in Nirvana's Come As You Are was stolen from Killing Joke. The mood and even the structure of Rammstein's Mutter is very close to Killing Joke's Pandemonium album.
There are not too many bands that an old fart like me would rejoice over. But one of those very few bands is Killing Joke. Lately, Killing Joke has been recording and touring in their original line-up. But to heck with the line-up anyway: whatever it's going to be, there's one hell of a gig coming up!
– Jouni Hynynen, vocalist and songwriter for the band Kotiteollisuus
www.killingjoke.com
myspace.com/killingjokeofficial
