UMUR "Killing Joke" is the eponymously titled debut full-length studio album by UK post-punk/industrial rock act Killing Joke. The album was released through E.G. Records in October 1980. It was preceded by the October 1979 EP "Turn to Red/Almost Red". The material on the album was pretty much recorded "live in the studio", with very few overdubs.

Although there haven´t been any lineup changes between the 1979 EP and this release, there have been great stylistic alterations. While "Turn to Red/Almost Red (1979)" featured a sort of odd experimental new wave style, "Killing Joke" is much darker, hard-edged, and raw. It´s grim, bleak, and industrial tinged post-punk featuring lyrics full of despair about the state of the world we live in. Although this is not heavy metal in any shape or form, it´s obvious why many heavy metal and hard rock artists have either covered Killing Joke (the most famous probably being Metallica who covered "The Wait" from this album) or cite them as an influence on their music.

The tracks feature a restless energy, repetitive hard-edged riffs, almost tribal influenced rhythms, and Jaz Coleman´s distinct sounding voice on top. There is use of keyboards/synths but they are not omnipresent and sporadic use is a better description of their place in the soundscape. The album features a raw sounding production, which suits the raw nature of the material well. Although it´s predominantly a pretty bleak album and the repetitive nature of the tracks leave little room for hooks, there are some melodic moments on the album. A vocal hookline, a memorable riff/rhythm, an instrumental guitar/keyboard motif, which are often a light in the dark (or at least a slightly less bleak breather).

With time this has become an iconic release and it is indeed a rather original sounding album by an innovative young act. They would soon depart from the rawness of this release and venture into more melodic new wave territory, but by the end of the 80s they went back to the roots and this debut album is pretty much the blueprint of most of their output (save for the mid-to late eighties albums). A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Turn to Red/Almost Red" is an EP release by UK post-punk/industrial rock act Killing Joke. It´s the band´s first official release and was originally titled "Turn to Red" and released through the independent Malicious Damage Records label in October 1979. This version of the EP featured 3 tracks. The EP was re-released through Island Records in December 1979 bearing the title "Almost Red" and featuring 4 tracks. The original "Turn to Red" version is a collector´s item today and very hard to find.

Stylistically the material on the EP are generally a bit different from what most people probably expect from a Killing Joke release. The grit and aggression of the next couple of releases aren´t a big part of the sound on the EP, and Killing Joke present a more new wave influenced post-punk style. The four tracks are pretty different and at this point the band clearly hadn´t found their own sound yet. The only track off the EP which I think features anything (other than the voice of Jaz Coleman, which always gives away the fact that you´re listening to Killing Joke) resembling the later Killing Joke releases is the distorted guitar riff on "Are You Receiving", which of course doesn´t mean the remaining part of the EP isn´t interesting, because it certainly is. It´s just very different from what you normally expect to hear when putting on a Killing Joke release.

"Turn to Red/Almost Red" is well produced, featuring a sound production which suits the material well. Upon conclusion it´s a bit of an odd first release by Killing Joke, as they would change their sound rather drastically shortly after the release of this EP, and the material featured here does not represent the band that well. Normally a debut release would at least provide a rough picture of what an artist aims at sounding like on future releases, but this release leaves me a bit confused. A 3 star (60%) rating is still warranted though, as there is nothing wrong with the quality of the content.

Peacock Feather Killing Joke has always been a slightly neglected formation from among those that had a huge impact on the musical movement both in Britain, native to musicians, and in the North American continental part on the planet Earth. With their work of the early 80s, they made a local revolution in post-punk, showing the true power of this genre, and moreover with completely unexpected inclusions of early industrial and Jamaican dub. The roots of the monstrous sound of Killing Joke have sprouted in the music of such bands as Ministry, Godflesh, Nine Inch Nails, Jane's Addiction, Nirvana; even Metallica did a cover of The Wait from the imperishable debut album of 1980. In short, it is pointless to dispute the influence of Killing Joke on the industrial rock movement and its derivatives, their magnitude is too strong on the music scene, but at the same time it is often critically underestimated.

The musicians themselves, after the bright post-punk 80s, decide to take a course to weigh down the sound, hints of industrial heavy music have already slipped through in the releases of the 90s, and in the noughties with the reunion, the band finally started playing the same industrial metal, whose forefathers they were in fact once in the 80s. And despite the recursive borrowings from the work of the same Ministry, and Jaz Coleman has generally become a local Lemmy in terms of vocals, their music is unmistakably fixed as a Killing Joke.

"Hosannas From the Basements of Hell" is the quintessence of the sound of the band from the noughties. A non-stop dance mash of an hour long, which, due to the repetitivity of the genre, not everyone can withstand in one go, therefore, the best acquaintance with this album will be the first 2 compositions that capture attention from the first seconds with their frenzied energy and primal anger. The whole album will continue to create the impression that it was recorded in the darkest depths of Hell and was revealed to the common people for communion. As for the rest of the hosannas, the oriental and pompous Invocation is a great greeting to the legendary LZ Kashmir, Implosion makes you dance furiously as if in an epileptic fit, the songs following it only strengthen this feeling, and relative calm, catharsis await the listener only on the last composition, Gratitude.

A wonderful album in its expressiveness, form and content. Perhaps some people will be scared off by excessive duration, but when everything is well tailored and designed, will it bother you when listening? The answer to this question, it seems to me, is unambiguous.

Warthur Killing Joke dial up the synthpop and new wave influences on this one, dragging their distinctive post-punk style into more classically gothic territory as a result - but if the extra polish represents a shift away from the harsh sound of their debut, it also takes Killing Joke into a distinctly warped pop landscape where their prickly ethos makes for something richer and darker than your typical mid-1980s pop ditty. Infectiously danceable, the album never quite goes fully electro-industrial with its approach but at the same time feels like an aesthetic cousin of the early work of Ministry or Nine Inch Nails.

UMUR "Pylon" is the 15th full-length studio album by UK industrial rock/metal act Killing Joke. The album was released through Spinefarm Records in October 2015. It´s the successor to "MMXII" from 2012. Killing Joke formed in 1978 and has been through some lineup changes throughout the years, but after the death of long time bassist Paul Raven in 2007, the original lineup of Jaz Coleman (lead vocals, keyboards), Kevin "Geordie" Walker (guitars), Martin "Youth" Glover (bass), and Paul Ferguson (drums, vocals) reunited, with the addition of keyboard player Reza Uhdin. And as "Pylon" is now the third studio release featuring this lineup, it has turned out a long lived reunion.

Stylistically the music featured on the album is unmistakably the sound of Killing Joke. They´ve made adjustments to their sound over the last 20 years, but the more riff oriented and metal oriented sound they introduced on "Pandemonium (1994)" is still the blueprint on "Pylon". The band´s style has always been hard to describe, but hard pounding repeated beats, atmospheric guitars/keyboards (sometimes harder edged and raw riffing), a rumbling bass, and Jaz Coleman´s strangely monotone clean vocals and occasional more raw shouting ditto, is a valid description. At times it´s quite powerful music, but Killing Joke also masters a more atmospheric sound.

The material on the 10 track, 57:09 minutes long album is well written, and although slightly same sounding (which is not unusual for Killing Joke), quite catchy and for the most part memorable. Tracks like "Dawn of the Hive" and "New Jerusalem" set the high standard, but the remaining tracks are equal in quality. The deluxe version of the album features a second disc with more material recording during the same sessions, and those tracks are of a high quality too, and could easily have been included on the regular version of the album.

The album is relatively well produced although I could have wished for a slightly more sharp and edgy sound. Overall "Pylon" is a very well sounding release though. The musicianship is as always strong and upon conclusion "Pylon" is yet another high quality release by Killing Joke and a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.