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KP says: Killing Joke - MMXII   Rating: Rating: 5/6   
Updated: 2012-04-20 21:29:23    Type:  cd/vinyl review     English  View Comment Details   
Killing Joke has released an awesome new album which is built around a "2012 end-of-days" theme. I never really fell in love with the previous album Absolute Dissent [2010], but this new album is much closer to perfection, and it has been in my earphones at work for 3 days now on repeat.

It has some massively thundering industrial sounding tracks loaded with energy. The opener Pole Shift runs for 9 minutes and changes pace and mood many times thoughout it's duration from a slow dream-like feel to almost aggressive and upbeat. It is a very cool way to open a great album.

I am not a fan of Jaz Coleman's distinct voice, but while he sometimes annoyed me on the previous album, it works much better here. He sounds like he means every word and we all know how fucking convincing he can be when live on stage.

The first 5 songs are all in your face with a massive wall of industrial punk sound, aggression, guitars and Colemans raw vocal. It fucking rocks! Rapture is one of the best of these great 5 tracks being a totally catchy, yet still very industrial hard-beating track.

In Cythera marks a total shift and with it's keyboard sound it could have fit in well on the old legendary Killing Joke album Night Time [1985]. Hell, the song almost sounds like a pop hit! Trance is another catchy track along the way and another favourite of mine.

Last song On All Hallow's Eve reveals a bit of hope for the furure, so the people who believe or share Killing Joke's beliefs are not left all in tears. Personally I am just happy to be listening to this awesome album.

[2012, Spinefarm]

Honestly my own bootleg video below has a sound that ain't too far from the "Down By The River" recording (mentioned in the comments.) Seriously this ain't good enough for an audiophile like me...

"A Love Like Blood" - Roskilde Festival 2011.

 
Killing Joke - MMXII (cd/vinyl review)
Killing Joke - MMXII (cd/vinyl review)
 
Reply #: 2     Name : KP     Country : Denmark     Created : 2012-07-20 19:32:44   
I have just received the Pledge 2cd + dvd package "Down By The River". The sound is as shitty as the initial mp3 download version. The packaging and cover is cool enough and there a booklet with all pledgers listed (my name is even listed twice.) The inside of the package has been autographed by the band. The dvd is just the live songs with some annoying video collage that you seriously can't be arsed to watch any other way than on very fast forward. All in all a rather disappointing release.   
Reply #: 1     Name : KP     Country : Denmark     Created : 2012-04-27 23:21:03   
I've bought their "Down By The River" using the PledgeMusic system - getting fans to fund a possible new release. I'm a big fan of this system and it generally works great. So far, I've received a download version (CD + DVD to follow.) The recording quality is rather disappointing however. It sounds like "straight to MP3" aka "direct from soundboard" recordings. No care has been taken to optimize the recordings as far as I can hear. It should be possible to do better than this if you have access to all mixer tracks and all the time in the world to process the result afterwards. Still it's a good snapshot of a very great tour where I caught them at Denmark's Roskilde Festival in 2011, a great gig indeed. Anyway, get this release if you love Killing Joke to death, but not if you are only searching for sublime live recordings.   
Link:  http://www.pledgemusic.com/artists/killingjoke   
Cd/vinyl reviews:
Marilyn Manson - Born Villain  ♦  Killing Joke - Down By The River
 
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Roskilde Festival 2011 is over and here's a few afterthoughts
 
Music comments:
The 10 best live concerts I saw in 2011