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Killing Joke-Killing Joke
'Killing Joke' is the eleventh studio album and second self-titled album by industrial metal/rock band Killing Joke. Killing Joke had broken up after the release of their 1996 album 'Democracy', but eventually reformed in 2002. One thing that I found cool to see was that Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters played drums on this album.
Ever since the beginning of the 90's Killing Joke had turned industrial metal, and this comeback album continues that. However, this album has a much more natural feel to it compared to the mechanical atmosphere of 'Pandemonium'. I also hear a good amount of metalized-punk and hardcore akin to their 'Extremities' album. The opening song, 'The Death and Resurrection Show', has some of these heavy punk-esque riffs at the beginning. Jaz Coleman's vocals fluctuate between clean post-punk vocals to his signature raw Lemmy-esque vocals really well. While it is pretty repetitive for a seven-minute long song, it's really catchy and flies by pretty quickly. 'Blood on Your Hands' also has a punk feel to it, and The transitions from the driving punk riffs to the heavy pounding guitar are performed perfectly here. Probably my favorite on the album is 'Asteroid', which instantly reels you in with on/off crushes of aggressive vocals and guitar. After Coleman screams 'ASTEROID', the crushing guitar and pounding drums dominate the rest of this intense song.
Coleman's vocals are more varied on this release then previously, using a pretty equal amount of cleaner and rawer vocals. Also, on songs like 'Total Invasion' and 'Dark Forces' he has a snarl to his voice. His snarl really adds to the dark and brooding atmosphere of 'Dark Forces'. The lyrics are also especially strong on this album, having strong political themes. 'Blood on Your Hands' has some of my favorite lyrics with 'Poison the waters so that only GM crops grow' and 'Five corporations, earn more than forty-six nations'.
Overall, this was a great comeback album for Killing Joke. While Pandemonium is my favorite, this album did lead to another favorite album of mine by them. While there are a few forgettable tracks, this is still an excellent album for any fans of Killing Joke, or Industrial metal. Hope you found this review helpful.
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